Lifestyle influences health
Positive choices can help prevent disease and extend healthy lifespan⁴
The health paradox
We’re living longer, but sicker. Advances in medicine have extended life expectancy, but not the years spent in good health.1
Modern lifestyles, environmental stressors, and biological ageing are accelerating disease risk and reducing quality of life.1
The solution? Shift the focus from simply living longer to living better. That’s what increasing your healthspan is all about.
Bridging the healthspan gap
Many people face years battling disease or ill health. It's time to turn the tide. By taking proactive steps, you become the threat to poor health, not its victim.
Genetics predict disease
Treatments and lifestyle interventions can help mitigate the risks⁵
Age increases the risk of poor health
Taking appropriate, preventable action combats this risk⁶
Reclaiming healthy years
Living longer doesn’t always equal living better. Science has uncovered many secrets to ageing well, and extending the years you live happy, healthy, and independent.
Learn your biological age
Go beyond the number on your birth certificate. With advanced testing, you can understand how fast you're really ageing, and spot early signs of chronic conditions before symptoms show.7
Treat your conditions
Don’t wait for symptoms to get worse. From high blood pressure to low testosterone, tackling underlying issues early helps prevent long-term damage and keeps you performing at your best.8
Optimise your life
A longer, healthier life isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing what matters. By understanding your unique biology, you can pinpoint future risks and adopt preventative measures that genuinely work for you.7
Risks and prevention strategies
As we age, our risk of disease and ill health increases. Some of the greatest threats include:
Metabolic syndrome: Older adults are at an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. Lifestyle intervention can prevent or reverse these conditions.9
Cardiovascular disease: Conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease are a leading cause of preventable death. Detecting abnormalities and tracking disease progression can prevent deterioration.10
Cognitive decline: There are currently 900,000 people with dementia in the UK. This is predicted to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.11 With swift intervention, risk factors can be prevented or mitigated.
Your health decoded
While every aspect of your health matters, protecting these core markers are key to a longer, healthier life:12-16
Immunity
Your first line of defence. A strong immune system keeps illness at bay and supports recovery, energy, and resilience.
Inflammation
Chronic, low-grade inflammation quietly damages cells and accelerates ageing. Tackling it early protects your body and brain.
Cognition
Mental clarity isn’t just about mindset - it’s biological. Supporting brain health sharpens concentration, memory, and performance.
Sleep
Recovery drives resilience. Prioritising deep, restorative sleep improves everything from immunity to metabolism.
Nutrition
Gut-friendly, nutrient-rich food fuels long-term health and keeps your energy stable.
Hormones
Balanced hormones underpin everything: mood, muscle, metabolism. Know your levels, and optimise when you need to.
Healthspan: the facts
21%
of men’s lives are spent in poor health in England¹⁷
24%
of women’s lives are spent in poor health in England¹⁷
20%
of all deaths in England and Wales are considered avoidable¹⁸
Lifespan is quantity, healthspan is quality
For years, we've celebrated a steady climb in life expectancy, yet a troubling truth has emerged: the years we live happily, healthily, and independently have actually declined.2
But here's the crucial point: this isn't an inevitable fate. Despite these declining healthspans, our understanding of how to live healthier is rapidly growing.3 By getting to problems before they happen, we can combat or even completely prevent them before they start.
The age equation
Explore the different dimensions of how we measure and experience age.
Your chronological age is simply the number of years you've been alive. It's a fixed measure from your date of birth, but it doesn't tell the whole story of your health. Two people of the same chronological age can have vastly different states of health.
Your biological age reflects the state of your body's cells and tissues, based on various biomarkers and physiological functions. It's a measure of how well your body is actually functioning at a cellular level, reflecting your overall health, lifestyle impact, and disease risk. It can be younger or older than your chronological age.7
FAQS
Your questions answered
Knowledge
Healthspan: what you need to know
References
References
1. Garmany A, Yamada S, Terzic A. Longevity leap: mind the healthspan gap. npj regenerative medicine. 2021;6(1): 57.
2. Freeman KS. U.S. lives: longer but sicker? Environmental health perspectives. 2011;119(3): a118.
3. Kirkwood TBL. Why and how are we living longer? Experimental physiology. 2017;102(9): 1067–1074.
4. Rippe JM. Lifestyle medicine: The health promoting power of daily habits and practices. American journal of lifestyle medicine. 2018;12(6): 499–512.
5. Hall WD, Morley KI, Lucke JC. The prediction of disease risk in genomic medicine: Scientific prospects and implications for public policy and ethics. EMBO reports. 2004;5 Spec No(S1): S22-6.
6. Noto S. Perspectives on aging and quality of life. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). 2023;11(15).
7. Salih A, Nichols T, Szabo L, Petersen SE, Raisi-Estabragh Z. Conceptual overview of biological age estimation. Aging and disease. 2023;14(3): 583–588
8. Jansen SNG, Kamphorst BA, Mulder BC, van Kamp I, Boekhold S, van den Hazel P, et al. Ethics of early detection of disease risk factors: A scoping review. BMC medical ethics. 2024;25(1): 25
9. Swarup S, Ahmed I, Grigorova Y, Zeltser R. Metabolic syndrome. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025.
10. Roth GA, Mensah GA, Johnson CO, Addolorato G, Ammirati E, Baddour LM, et al. Global Burden of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, 1990-2019: Update from the GBD 2019 Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2020;76(25): 2982–3021.
11. Shah R, Salek MS, Ali FM, Nixon SJ, Otwombe K, Ingram JR, et al. Dementia and its profound impact on family members and partners: A large UK cross-sectional study: A large UK cross-sectional study. Alzheimer disease and associated disorders. 2024;38(4): 338–343.
12. O’Connor EA, Cornwallis CK. Immunity and lifespan: answering long-standing questions with comparative genomics. Trends in genetics: TIG. 2022;38(7): 650–661.
13. Li X, Li C, Zhang W, Wang Y, Qian P, Huang H. Inflammation and aging: signaling pathways and intervention therapies. Signal transduction and targeted therapy. 2023;8(1): 239.
14. Puri S, Shaheen M, Grover B. Nutrition and cognitive health: A life course approach. Frontiers in public health. 2023;11: 1023907.
15. Baranwal N, Yu PK, Siegel NS. Sleep physiology, pathophysiology, and sleep hygiene. Progress in cardiovascular diseases. 2023;77: 59–69.
16. Bradley E, Haran J. The human gut microbiome and aging. Gut microbes. 2024;16(1): 2359677.
17. What is happening to life expectancy in England?. Kingsfund.org.uk. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/long-reads/whats-happening-life-expectancy-england [Accessed 15th July 2025].
18. Avoidable mortality in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics. Gov.uk. Office for National Statistics; https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/avoidablemortalityinenglandandwales/2023 [Accessed 15th July 2025].
19. Crimmins EM. Lifespan and healthspan: Past, present, and promise. The gerontologist. 2015;55(6): 901–911.
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