Longevity This Week is a series of episodes discussing new findings or articles relevant to geroscience, longevity, and healthspan that may have popped up in the news.

This week we're featuring Richard Morgan, a 93-year-old rowing champion whom the Washington Post recently described as being "as fit as a 40-year-old". We talk about Richard's diet, exercise routine, and other aspects of his lifestyle that may have led to his enviable state in older age. We also discuss a recent Wall Street Journal article about how Americans are spending more of their lives in poor health, and about how "sickspan"—the amount of time we spend sick near the end of our lives—might change in years to come.

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!

Physiological characteristics of a 92-yr-old four-time world champion rower

This is the study on which the article in The Washington Post that Matt references in this episode is based. The study measured the oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide production, ventilation, and heart rate of 92-year-old Irishman Richard Morgan at rest and while using an ergometer, and found that Richard’s oxygen uptake kinetics were similar to those of healthy young adults. It also outlines his training and nutritional habits, which include an “extremely consistent diet”, 40 minutes per day of rowing, and two to three days per week of resistance training. Richard only began rowing at 73 and was not involved in any structured exercise regime prior to that.

Americans are sick for more of their lives

This article, which Matt discusses in the podcast, describes the decline in time that Americans spend in good health towards the end of their lives. In 1990, Americans spent 85.8% of their lives in good health. In 2021, that number went down to 83.6%. This change is in part due to medical advances that prevent us from dying of certain diseases, so we live for a longer time, but continue to suffer from many of the functional declines and diseases that accompany old age. The article discusses how the growing gap between healthy life and death has significant implications for healthcare, the economy, and the wellbeing of patients and their caregivers.

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.

Life-long spontaneous exercise does not prolong lifespan but improves health span in mice

According to this study, spontaenous exercise does not impact how long mice live, but delays their age-associated decline as measured in strength, endurance and motor coordination. They propose mechanisms by which exercise may prolong healthy cognitive and skeletal muscle function such as increases in neurotropic factors, or proteins crucial roles in the development, survival, and function of neurons, and the formation of new mitochondria within cells.