Life expectancy in the United States reached a high of 79 years after a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this number falls short of life expectancy in comparable countries (84 years in Japan, 82 years in Norway), it’s good news that Americans’ expected lifespans are increasing.
Lengthening one’s lifespan is a goal that doctors generally help patients work toward through lifestyle habits and medical interventions. And now, there is another aging benchmark that doctors and patients are paying attention to — healthspan.
Below, doctors share the difference between lifespan and healthspan, and what you can do to extend both.
Here’s how experts define a lifespan.
You likely know what lifespan is. It’s “literally how long you live,” said Dr. Pamela Brar, the medical director of the Longevity Program at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
“It’s a chronologic age that humans can anticipate achieving, and for most people, we have that average age that we anticipate people will hit, which is about 80,” said Dr. Ariela Orkaby, a geriatrician at Mass General Brigham.
This number may be a little lower for men and a little higher for women, Orkaby noted.
“There are a few people living right now who we know are about 116 or 117, but that’s kind of the limit of what we can expect for the lifespan,” Orkaby said.
And here’s how they define a healthspan.
While lifespan centers on how long you live, healthspan centers on how long you live a high-quality life, or a life without a disease that limits you, Brar said.
“Healthspan are the years within that lifespan where people are, on average, at their healthiest without multiple chronic conditions or disabilities or other things that are getting in the way of being able to enjoy that extended lifespan,” Orkaby said.
Our healthspan typically maxes out in our mid-60s, “around age 65,” Orkaby said.
“Even though we know the lifespan is, on average, at least 15 years longer than that,” she added.
Some of the conditions and disabilities that limit healthspan are in your control, while others are not, whether due to genetics or other factors.
“By mid-60s, certainly early 70s, is where we see a lot more of the chronic conditions ... hypertension, arthritis, of course, we see more cancers as people get older, more heart attacks, more strokes,” Orkaby said.
“A lot of those chronic conditions that start to build up are less common in people, maybe in their 40s and 50s, but we start to be much more used to seeing them in people in their 60s, 70s, and certainly 80s and beyond,” Orkaby noted.
This isn’t to say that those with chronic conditions can’t live fulfilling, independent lives.
“As we age, [our] systems age as well ... if you’re managing chronic medical issues, you want to make sure, for your health, to stay optimized through your lifespan,” said Dr. LaTasha Perkins, a family medicine doctor in Washington, D.C.
It’s important to manage any conditions you are dealing with as you age, Perkins noted. This way, you’ll be more able to stay independent, without life-limiting conditions as you get older.
No one thing is going to improve your healthspan or lifespan.
While there may be lots of supplements and treatments that claim to bolster your longevity, there isn’t one quick or easy way to do so. Instead, the habits that have been drilled into your head by doctors and family members are the things that matter most when it comes to healthy aging.
“I tend to to take the framework of what’s good for the heart and brain are typically good for the rest of the body,” said Orkaby, who recommends that people follow the American Heart Association’s Life Essential 8 health recommendations as “a starting framer for what’s good, overall, for the body.”
These guidelines include eating a nutritious diet, exercising, not smoking, getting high-quality sleep, knowing, and, if necessary, controlling, your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Brar experts also stressed the importance of social connections and community as you age, whether that is your family, friends, church community, running club or poker group.
“I think the idea of social connectedness as a primary pillar of longevity is finally getting its moment,” Brar said.
“That, I think, is a general framework that is going to help many of us extend our healthspan within our lifespan,” Orkaby added.
It’s also important to stay up-to-date on all of your health screenings, such as mammograms, colonoscopies, skin cancer checks and more, said Brar.
“The other thing is ... trying to find a physician or nurse practitioner or clinician that you feel like is really tuned into the idea of not just avoiding disease but optimizing your quality of life,” Brar said.
It can be hard to find the time to commit to habits known to boost healthspan and lifespan, but starting small is still something.
“What some of the most recent data has shown is that when you think about the most gains from, say, for example, exercise, some of the most substantial gains in longevity that occur from exercise are when someone goes from being sedentary to just doing even a low level of activity,” Brar said.
Meaning, if you go from no exercise to making time for a 30-minute walk several times a week, you’ll see “pretty significant reduction in risk” for some major health conditions, Brar added.
Perkins said it’s ideal to start these healthy habits earlier in life, like in your 20s, 30s or 40s, because the benefits (building muscle, etc.) will add up over time. But it’s also never too late to start, Perkins said.
“I don’t care if you’re 70. Start walking. Talk to your doctor about what exercise regimen would work for you based on your health state,” Perkins added.
You could go for a walk with your partner or a neighbor. Or, you could wear light weights on your legs as you clean the house, Perkins said.
“Just basic things to make sure that you’re not only taking care of your heart muscle, but taking care of your arms and legs and back muscle[s] as well,” Perkins said.
You can also start by focusing on one aspect of the Life Essential 8, said Orkaby. For example, start by improving your sleep habits or commit to lowering your blood pressure.
“That one place to start is going to make a huge difference. So even if we can’t do all of the things that we know we should, just doing something will be better than doing nothing,” Orkaby said.