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Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?

The search for longevity, if not for immortality itself, has been as old as recorded history. The great strides made in the standard of living and the advances in scientific medicine, have resulted in unprecedented increases in longevity, concomitant with improved quality of life. Thanks to medical...

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Autor principal: Faria, Miguel A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4392568/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25883841
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/2152-7806.154273
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author Faria, Miguel A.
author_facet Faria, Miguel A.
author_sort Faria, Miguel A.
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description The search for longevity, if not for immortality itself, has been as old as recorded history. The great strides made in the standard of living and the advances in scientific medicine, have resulted in unprecedented increases in longevity, concomitant with improved quality of life. Thanks to medical progress senior citizens, particularly octogenarians, have become the fastest growing segment of the population and the number of centenarians is increasing, even though in the last two decades, spurred by the bioethics movement, the priority assigned to the prolongation of lifespan has taken a back seat to the containment of health care costs. This article describes what individuals can do to lead healthy lifestyles and increase longevity, concomitant with preservation of quality of life until the very end of life—as postulated by Dr. James F. Fries’ hypothesis of the compression of morbidity. This review article investigates the contention of bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel that Fries’ theory is a “fantasy” and not a realistic possibility. In this context recent advances in neurobiology, epigenetics, and aging are described, and the hypothesis of the compression of morbidity re-examined. We find that people are not only living longer but are remaining healthier. Recent studies suggest that brain plasticity develops and potential neurogenesis occurs in those individuals who continue to be mentally and physically active allowing them to thrive well into old age. Controlled studies as well as Medicare spending data strongly corroborate Fries’ predictions and support my conclusion that compression of morbidity should be upgraded from a hypothesis to a theory. Lastly, leisure in association with or without retirement is discussed and suggestions are made as to how to use this time to remain intellectually sharp and physically vigorous until the very end of life.
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spelling pubmed-43925682015-04-16 Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age? Faria, Miguel A. Surg Neurol Int Review Article The search for longevity, if not for immortality itself, has been as old as recorded history. The great strides made in the standard of living and the advances in scientific medicine, have resulted in unprecedented increases in longevity, concomitant with improved quality of life. Thanks to medical progress senior citizens, particularly octogenarians, have become the fastest growing segment of the population and the number of centenarians is increasing, even though in the last two decades, spurred by the bioethics movement, the priority assigned to the prolongation of lifespan has taken a back seat to the containment of health care costs. This article describes what individuals can do to lead healthy lifestyles and increase longevity, concomitant with preservation of quality of life until the very end of life—as postulated by Dr. James F. Fries’ hypothesis of the compression of morbidity. This review article investigates the contention of bioethicist Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel that Fries’ theory is a “fantasy” and not a realistic possibility. In this context recent advances in neurobiology, epigenetics, and aging are described, and the hypothesis of the compression of morbidity re-examined. We find that people are not only living longer but are remaining healthier. Recent studies suggest that brain plasticity develops and potential neurogenesis occurs in those individuals who continue to be mentally and physically active allowing them to thrive well into old age. Controlled studies as well as Medicare spending data strongly corroborate Fries’ predictions and support my conclusion that compression of morbidity should be upgraded from a hypothesis to a theory. Lastly, leisure in association with or without retirement is discussed and suggestions are made as to how to use this time to remain intellectually sharp and physically vigorous until the very end of life. Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2015-03-30 /pmc/articles/PMC4392568/ /pubmed/25883841 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/2152-7806.154273 Text en Copyright: © 2015 Faria MA. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Review Article
Faria, Miguel A.
Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
title Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
title_full Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
title_fullStr Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
title_full_unstemmed Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
title_short Longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: Do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
title_sort longevity and compression of morbidity from a neuroscience perspective: do we have a duty to die by a certain age?
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4392568/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25883841
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/2152-7806.154273
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