Healthspan is the stage in life where people are practically disease-free or able to ambulate without loss of balance, feed themselves, bathe and dress without help, socialize with family, friends, and society, travel, or even drive, doing the things we love, and feeling comfortable and well. That is the span of wellness, being healthy, no matter the age. Lifespan is how long people live. Obviously, the quality of life, how we age, is far more important than the number of years of life.
Everyone is, naturally, interested in maximizing longevity, aspiring to live to 80, 90, 100, or longer, but while people today live longer, lifespan is greater, healthspan seems to be lagging: the number of years people are healthy in their lifetime is barely catching up. Hopefully, with a society that is more health-conscious than ever before, healthspan will grow wider, and people will be living longer, healthier lives in most years of their senior life. Healthspan represents minutes, hours, days, and years of living comfortably well, and not existing, dominated by diseases and loss of independence.
Harvard Special Health Report says: “Over the past century, average lifespan has increased dramatically. In 1900 in the United States, a newborn could expect to live about 47 years. Today, that number is closer to 79. Improved sanitation, antibiotics, safer childbirth, vaccines, and better emergency care all deserve credit… Many people now live a decade or more dealing with multiple chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, arthritis, and cognitive decline. The result is a wide, often painful gap between how long people live and how long they live well. From a medical standpoint, what we’re really trying to extend is not just the number of years, but the number of good years-healthy, active years in which you can participate in life on your own terms.”
Genetics has about a 10-30 percent effect on lifespan, which leaves 70 to 90 percent of other factors that can determine our lifespan and also our health span: our discipline, behavior, and habits, our lifestyle. And these are factors within our control, directly in our hands!
“The same is true at the microscopic level. Inside your cells, aging is driven by a set of biological processes often called the hallmarks of aging: things like DNA damage, failing energy-producing structures (mitochondria), chronic low-grade inflammation, and changes in the microbes that live in your gut, our vital microbiome.
To support a longer healthspan, the Harvard Medical School’s Report suggests the following scale-tipping discipline:
“Eating mostly whole, minimally processed foods, with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, beans and lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and healthy oils, and limiting red and processed meats, refined grains, and sugary drinks.
Moving your body regularly, including aerobic activity for your heart and lungs, strength training for muscles and bones, and balance work to prevent falls.
Avoiding tobacco in all forms and limiting or avoiding alcohol.
Prioritizing sleep, usually seven to nine hours per night, and getting help if you have persistent insomnia or suspected sleep apnea.
Managing stress, mood, and social connection through practices like spending time outdoors, meditation, counseling when needed, and nurturing relationships.
Keeping up with preventive care, including recommended screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, cancers, and vaccinations appropriate for your age.”
As I have written in the past, some people seem to have locked their mindset in a self-destruct suicidal mode: besides driving recklessly, with a cigarette, or beer can in one hand and a cellphone in the other, eating a lot of junk food, carbohydrates, processed and ultra-processed red meats, drinking soft drinks (which are poisonous to the body), being a sedentary couch-potato, finger-exercising (only) with a TV remote, smoking, drinking, using illicit drugs, all of which lead to diseases, shortening both healthspan and lifespan. It is time to look at the mirror, wise up, reset our mindset, and ask ourselves: “Why am I destroying my body, which I am supposed to love and protect, for my and my family’s sake?”
Healthcare access
The United Nations Population Fund and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation(PhilHealth) established a partnership aimed at improving maternal health, family planning, and healthcare access for millions of Filipino women and families. On another front, the DOH Metro Manila center has launched a campaign (“Ligtas Tigdas,” Freedom from Measles) to immunize 1.2 million children ages 6 months to 59 months against measles and rubella.
New anti-COVID
The US-FDA just approved a new oral antiviral agent, ensitrelvir (Xocoba), to help prevent COVID-19 among people exposed to SARS-CoV-2 (the virus in COVID-19) infection. While the agent could also be effective against mild to moderate COVID-19, it is not approved to treat COVID-19 as a primary indication in the USA. It is officially approved as a prophylactic drug. As of May 10, 2026, the WHO reported 2,581 cases of COVID-19 infections, 1400 cases in Brazil, and 277 in Thailand. COVID-19 epidemic trend in the USA and in the Philippines is declining severely. Emergency room visits sit at 0.1 percent. The current variant appearing in wastewater across multiple US states is BA.3.2, nicknamed “Cicada.”
Bath tub infections
Bathing in a tub is less preferred than a shower because of water waste and high incidence of infections, like hot tub folliculitis, infection of hair follicles, urinary tract infection (more common among females, and Legionnaires’ disease. Immersing ourselves in a bathtub, hot tub, or whirlpool cleans our anus, contaminating the water with E coli bacteria and other bacteria from our skin. This is especially common in bathtubs in motels and hotels. The healthier choice is the shower, where dirty water goes down the drain. Also, a bathtub uses between 35 and 70 gallons of water, depending on the size of the tub, while an 8-minute shower uses about 17 gallons (2 gallons per minute).
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a decorated recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana Governor, U.S. Senator, and later a presidential candidate, Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, Astronaut Gus Grissom, pugilist Muhammad Ali, distinguished educators, renowned scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com. On Amazon.com.
