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An elderly woman on her bed, peacefully sleeping. A grey tabby cat is curled up beside her. We talk about living a long and healthy life with shortened decline at the end in this episode. https://every1dies.org

November 15, 2024

S5E33: Dying In Good Health through “Compression of Morbidity”

Can making good choices extend our healthy life and shorten the dying process at the end?

Is it a requirement to get sick as we get old? Can we reduce the risk and delay the onset of age-related diseases? While aging is inevitable, can we have healthy aging process with a compressed dying so that we have a sudden death in our old age. One day, we’re going to die. What should that mean for how we live today?

Can making good choices extend our healthy life and shorten the dying process at the end? We talk about compression of morbidity and how to live our best life.

In this Episode:

01:46 – Ready for the Holidays?
06:47 – Lore Segal, Émigré Life Novelist, Dies at 96
12:25 – Recipe of the Week: Texas Twinkies
14:00 – Compression of Morbidity: Making the Most of Life in Old Age
24:19 – Outro

Anti-Aging, or Aging Well?

We have been talking in the past few episodes about the lifestyle choices that can help us live longer, healthier lives. As people live longer, we see more age-related diseases such as cancer and dementia. But can we adopt strategies to delay the onset of such diseases so we have a longer period of good health, then die rather suddenly?

Compression of Morbidity

Many researchers are asking that very question. Compression of Morbidity is a concept that describes a scenario where people live long, healthy lives, and then experience a rapid decline in physical and cognitive health at the end of their lives. The goal is to “squeeze” the time of disability and decline into a shorter period.

Andrew Weil, M.D. Talks about the Compression of Morbidity

Listen to our podcast to learn more about what the research says, and what you can do to improve your odds of a long, healthy life with short decline.

Related Episodes:

A motorcycle rider taking a leisurely ride through a scenic fall landscape. We talk about taking the "slow road" to death by making healthy life choices. https://every1dies.org — In S5E23: Slow Ride…Taking the Longer Road to Death, we learn about the personal, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence your health, and steps you can take now to increase your longevity and quality of life.

References:

How to Die in Good Health: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/22/how-to-die-in-good-health
Forget About Living to 100. Let’s Live Healthier Instead: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/28/opinion/aging-public-health-healthspan.html
Fries J. F. (1980). Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. The New England journal of medicine, 303(3), 130–135. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198007173030304
Understanding the drivers of healthy life expectancy

Resources:

A Master Storyteller, at the End of Her Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/06/magazine/lore-segal-writing-death.html
Lore Segal, Mordant Novelist of Émigré Life, Dies at 96: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/07/books/lore-segal-dead.html
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity Hardcover by Peter Attia MD (Author), Bill Gifford: Available here: https://a.co/d/f1igGk2
Compression Of Morbidity | Andrew Weil, M.D.:
Changing the Narrative is a national initiative to end ageism: https://changingthenarrativeco.org/

Notable Obituaries

We shared two obituaries, one of Lore Segal, a novelist who lived to the ripe age of 96. Another was a “wayward mother” – a very cheeky obit you can see below.

Recipe of the Week: Texas Twinkies

These twinkies aren’t what you’d expect, but they also have a filling out of this world with cream cheese, smoked brisket, garlic and scallions, wrapped in bacon and brushed with barbecue sauce as they are broiled. Sound like something you need for your holiday appetizer row? Head to Southern Living for the recipe.

Grilled bacon-wrapped Jalapeños on a tray — Head to Southern Living for this spicy Texan treat | Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox (Southern Living)

**We are also selected as one of the Top 50 Grief Blogs on the Web!**
https://blog.feedspot.com/palliative_care_podcasts/

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