Optispan CEO Matt Kaeberlein discusses the popular Healthspan concept, how Healthspan is different from Lifespan, and why bouncing back from health challenges gets harder as we age.

Check out the links below for further information and/or reading about some of the things we discussed in this podcast episode. Note that we do not necessarily endorse or agree with the content of these readings, but present them as supplementary material that may deepen your understanding of the topic after you listen to our podcast. This list is in no way exhaustive, but it’s a good start!

How healthy is the healthspan concept?

In 2018, Matt published this article exploring the concept of healthspan and the lack of clarity in the usage of the term. He notes that while a common definition of healthspan is “the period of life spent in good health, free from the chronic diseases and disabilities of aging”, there are many issues with this definition—for example, are all diseases equal in heralding the end of healthspan? If you are simply frail and get sick more often, has your healthspan ended? He discusses the implications of imprecise definitions of healthspan for interpreting new findings in the geroscience field.

Translational geroscience: A new paradigm for 21st century medicine

Matt provides a high-level overview of the geroscience approach and its potential impact. He introduces several efforts to translate current research to the clinic, including clinical trials of rapamycin in humans and dogs as well as the Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) trial, which aims to investigate the impact of the antidiabetic drug metformin on non-diabetes comorbidities in older patients. The article also discusses some of the regulatory hurdles involved with developing interventions that target aging biology.

Lifespan and Healthspan: Past, Present, and Promise

This article lays out the evidence for the life expectancy increase that has happened over the last century, and discusses recent trends in measures of population health such as cognitive functioning, severe disability, and the presence of diseases. The author notes that while infection used to be one of the primary causes of human death, death today generally occurs as a result of chronic diseases and disabilities that occur at older ages. She argues for beginning trials whose purpose is to delay the biological aging process early in life, as well as for taking a more preventative approach to healthcare.