Improving Healthspan: The Key to Longevity and Healthy Aging
What is longevity?
In demographics, we define longevity as the duration of life or life expectancy. The most used measure is life expectancy at birth, which considers all causes of death at all ages for a specific generation.
What are the main factors influencing longevity?
Among significant factors contributing to a high life expectancy at birth are gender, genetics, access to healthcare, hygiene, diet and nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, and crime rates. Currently, in developed countries, the average life expectancy at birth is approximately 77 to 90 years. In developing countries, the difference is greater, with an average life expectancy of 32 to 80 years, depending on the country.
Life expectancy: what does it measure?
“Life expectancy at birth” does not necessarily describe longevity once maturity is reached, as this measure is influenced by the proportion of people who reach old age.
For example, in 1871, a census in the UK (the first of its kind) revealed that the average life expectancy for men was 44 years. However, if infant mortality was subtracted from the 1871 figure, men who reached adulthood had an average of 75 years. This value is similar to the average life expectancy for men in the UK today, which is 77 years.
So, an increase in life expectancy at birth in developed countries means that we have significantly improved our chances of reaching old age, but what happens after that?
Why should we focus on increasing healthy life expectancy?
Aging begins at birth and accumulates as we live. Therefore, we can expect progressive decrepitude and, eventually, death with old age. Contrary to the expression, nobody “dies of old age,” but death in old age comes from an underlying cause (disease or organ failure) that the aging body can no longer control. Therefore, greater longevity will naturally increase life expectancy.
Today, most people in developed countries can expect to live between 10 and 25 years at the end of their lives with increasingly poor health and a progressive lack of autonomy.
In most chronic diseases in the Western world, the biggest risk factor seems to be age; the proportion of those affected and the worsening of conditions is proportional to the age of the population.
Given this scenario, an increase in life expectancy (lifespan) alone is not considered as desirable as an increase in healthspan (healthy lifespan), with (or without) an increase in life expectancy, both for individuals and societies as the burden of health problems in older people increases in all developed societies.
How can we improve our life expectancy and health?
An essential part of the aging process is defined by gender and genetics. Generally, women live longer; however, some men and women have natural longevity.
Fortunately, with increased knowledge about the aging process, there are many things people can do to improve their life expectancy and health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise per week (about half an hour a day, five days a week) to live a longer, healthier life. While some exercises are better than others (for example, Pilates is an excellent treatment for chronic back pain), almost any type of exercise is better than a sedentary lifestyle (lack of exercise), which can accelerate aging and promote health problems. Regular exercise, starting as young as possible, increases longevity. It's never too late to start!
Another key factor is diet. On the one hand, caloric restriction activates sirtuins, proteins that can regenerate DNA structures and delay aging. But, on the other hand, it's not just calories that matter. Some diets, such as the famous Mediterranean diet, are more nutritious than others because they ensure a healthy distribution between plant and animal proteins, as well as saturated and unsaturated fats, etc. This healthy balance can prevent some of the current causes of poor health in developed countries.
How can nutraceutical ingredients improve life expectancy?
Recent discoveries have highlighted the specific longevity benefits of active nutritional ingredients, such as minerals (zinc, magnesium, etc.), vitamins (B, C, D3, E, K, etc.) and other functional ingredients (such as Q10, pterostilbene, NAD riboside, etc.)
CIRCE Scientific has developed its own line of optimized nutraceutical ingredients, focused on longevity and healthy aging. With the launch of PTEROVITA, a patented co-crystal of pterostilbene, CIRCE Scientific offers the most potent oral antioxidant nutraceutical ingredient on the market to develop new anti-aging/antioxidant oral formulations for supplement, cosmetic, feed and pharmaceutical companies.