The idea of living to 100 doesn’t excite everyone. The visual most have of the 100-year-old is of poor health, minimal function, and not cognitively well. What if you could be 100 but look, act, and feel like you were 60? On the frontier of health longevity, Peter Diamandis asks that question often, and most would agree that it would be worth living to 100!
Many factors would go into this longevity achievement, and we will focus on two fundamental aspects.
- Your Physical Health and how that plays into longevity.
- Your Physical Health and ability to perform activities you love longer.
Before we address those two vital aspects of your health and quality of life, I want to provide some context between Life Span and Health Span.
Life Span is what it says, the span of your entire life. These could be healthy years and unhealthy years.
Health Span is what really matters. The part of a person’s life during which they are generally in good health. The goal is to enhance and extend the health span.
Would you agree that many physical aspects of health, such as full mobility, avoiding chronic pain conditions, adequate strength, and the ability to exercise, would help you achieve a longer health span?
Would you agree that your ability to perform your beloved activities longer would improve your quality of life and help you maintain a longer health span?
Here are a few essential resources that dive into the science behind Life Span and, even more importantly, Health Span.
- David Sinclair’s Book - Lifespan “Why we age and why we don’t have to”
- Peter Diamandis’ Blog- https://www.diamandis.com/blog/10-longevity-resolutions-for-2022
- Peter Attia’s Book - https://peterattiamd.com/outlive/
Your Physical Health and how that plays into Longevity.
Many correlations exist between your physical health and your longevity and health span. We have all seen that spry 80-year-old still playing tennis, golf, and with the grandkids. Wouldn’t it be great to do that at 75-80 years old?
Here are common physical factors and their association with health longevity.
Mobility and Longevity
Title: Maintaining mobility and preventing disability are key to living independently as we age
- https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/maintaining-mobility-and-preventing-disability-are-key-living-independently-we-age
Grip Strength & Longevity
Title: Grip Strength: An Indispensable Biomarker For Older Adults
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6778477/
Hip fractures and mortality rate
Title: Changing trends in the mortality rate at 1-year post hip fracture
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6428998/
Title: Toe grip force of the dominant foot is associated with fall risk
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35637529/
Pain Medications and Opioids and Health
Title: Life expectancy of people who are dependent on opioids
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32905957/
Title: Long-term opioid use and mortality in patients with chronic non-cancer pain
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00288-7/fulltext
Spine Health and Longevity
Title: Back muscle strength and spinal mobility are predictors of quality of life in middle-aged and elderly males
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3099149/
Steps per day and morbidity and mortality
Title: Daily steps and all-cause mortality
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(21)00302-9/fulltext
Osteoporosis
Title: Does Superior Bone Health Promote a Longer Lifespan?
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8358490/
Title: Exercise and Osteoporosis
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteoporosis/prevention/
As you can see, many musculoskeletal factors are correlated with health span and life span. Let’s now focus on how maintaining your physical health can allow you to perform activities of daily living and enjoy sports, exercise, and physical activity for many years.
Your Physical Health and ability to perform activities you love longer.
Retirement Planning from a physical aspect
Many people spend much effort, time, and money on planning for their financial future during their later years. We all understand the importance of this planning. But have you considered planning for your health future? We aim for you to start planning for that before it is too late. It is much easier to be proactive with your physical health than reactive. Wouldn’t you love to live longer and enjoy the physical activities you have come to love? You can.
Movements we need at 90, and reverse engineering from there.
I am confident that we will live longer, and 90 will be very common. What movements would you desire to have at 90 to live vibrantly? Mobility, flexibility, and balance are fundamental requirements to move well, move often, and move safely.
This will also allow you to perform the following activities well and for longer. Here are some, but not all, you may enjoy doing into your 70’s, 80’s, and even 90’s.
- Golf
- Tennis
- Pickleball
- Running
- Swimming
- Exercise
- Skiing
- Cycling
- Walking
- Grandkids
- Traveling
- Hiking
Do you want to get into more physical activity, but the pain is preventing you?
Pain is a common deterrent to physical activity, so seeking care for those pain conditions would be step one in getting active again.
How can chiropractic help?
A significant amount of research supports the efficacy of chiropractic and your physical health. Here are two of many showing the effectiveness of chiropractic.
Data from OptumHealth indicate that a more efficient treatment path typically begins with a patient consulting a chiropractor. This path leads to interventions more closely aligned with recommended treatment guidelines and more favorable solutions at more reasonable costs.
OptumHealth® Study
- The chiropractic care pathway was the most cost-efficient
- Chiropractic was the most effective form of Care
Total Episode Cost by Entry Point
- Chiropractic $631
- Primary Care $688
- Orthopedic $1,056
- ER/Urgent $1,231
What we do to help with pain and injuries and improve function/movement, so you can exercise and play sports vigorously.
- Chiropractic care for spinal health
- Active Release Technique for muscular performance and pain reduction to allow you to perform well and for many years.
- Specific rehab to improve stability, mobility, and balance.
- Keep you exercising for many years to improve your quality of life and physical health.
- Help you with your pain and stay pain-free so you can do the things you enjoy.
Once you have overcome any pain that was preventing you from activity, the next step is to stay healthy, and what we do can help you maintain injury resilience. In turn, what we do helps you increase your sports and activity longevity.
Now you may be asking, how can chiropractic, rehabilitation, soft-tissue therapy, and other conservative therapies help with life span and health span?
We directly impact your mobility, avoidance of opioids, spine health, and other factors.
We also indirectly impact keeping you physically healthy so you can exercise, and exercise helps with mobility, strength, grip strength, hip fractures from falls, osteoporosis, spine health, and steps per day.
As you can see, we play a significant part in a person's current and future health and, therefore, their health span, longevity, and quality of life.
