Lifespan Versus Healthspan

Eric Le Bourg (1)

1 CRCA - Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale - UMR5169

Lifespan is a measure of duration, not of content, and it does not provide the same information as biological markers of ageing. Therefore, one cannot rely on lifespan to infer conclusions about ageing. For example, two centenarians can die in very contrasted physiological states: as bedridden for years or during jogging. Healthspan can be measured in animal models by relying on behaviour, resistance to stress, and so on. Biogerontologists working with animal models tend to privilege the measurement of lifespan rather than that of healthspan when the animal lives for a short time (e.g. Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster) because measuring lifespan is easy and studying, say, behaviour, is more difficult. Conversely, biogerontologists privilege healthspan when the animal model lives for years (e.g. rodents, non-human primates), because measuring lifespan can be out of reach. In any case, biogerontologists should try to observe both lifespan and indicators of health, whenever it is possible, and not conclude that ageing is delayed when they have simply observed longer lifespans.

Domaines: Gériatrie et gérontologie

Eric Le Bourg. Lifespan Versus Healthspan. Jonathan Sholl; Suresh I.S. Rattan. Explaining health across the sciences, vol 12., Springer, pp.439-452, 2020, Healthy Ageing and Longevity, 978-3-030-52662-7. ⟨10.1007/978-3-030-52663-4_25⟩. ⟨hal-02927140⟩