Some longevity interventions compress the time spent in poor health by steepening the survival curve. These steepening strategies – unlike those that merely extend lifespan – can reduce relative sickspan, offering a route to longer and healthier lives.
April 2025 – Nature Communications
Key takeaways
- Survival curve shape matters: Longevity interventions that steepen the survival curve, not just extend it, can compress the time spent in poor health. This leads to a higher proportion of life spent in good health, offering a more desirable ageing trajectory for wellness-focused individuals
- Healthspan gains over sickspan: Unlike scaling interventions that prolong both healthspan and sickspan proportionally, steepening interventions primarily extend healthspan. This means they reduce the percentage of life spent with age-related illnesses, making them especially appealing for those aiming to maximise quality of life in later years
- Mouse and invertebrate data support compression: Data from mice, nematodes, and fruit flies show that steepening interventions consistently compress the relative sickspan. These findings suggest a generalisable biological mechanism, reinforcing the potential of such strategies in improving health outcomes as organisms age
- Targets include senolytics and glucose control: Senolytic therapies, ketogenic diets, and glucose-lowering drugs like acarbose not only extend lifespan but also steepen the survival curve. These findings suggest new pathways for compressing morbidity through vascular and immune health, guiding future wellness and longevity practices
Read the article at: Yang, Yifan, et al. “Compression of morbidity by interventions that steepen the survival curve.” Nature Communications, vol. 16, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57807-5.
