Science

Established Level B · moderate human evidence

Lifespan and healthspan are not the same question

2026-10-05

Lifespan answers a single figure: the years of life. Healthspan asks something else: for how many of those years a person stays active, lucid, and independent.

Lengthening life without lengthening health can add years of illness. That is why the scientific conversation moved toward healthspan. Sleeping, strength training, eating regularly, and treating real deficiencies change health trajectories with firmer evidence than any capsule presented as a shortcut.

This site uses that distinction as an editorial rule. A molecule can be interesting and, at the same time, not be ready to be presented as a way to live longer.

Sources

1. Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universeLópez-Otín C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G. Cell, 2023.DOI 10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.001Updates the framework to twelve hallmarks, including chronic inflammation and dysbiosis. It does not show that human aging can be slowed.