The New Face of Mortality: Are We Truly Healthier?

Investigating whether increased life expectancy equates to improved quality of life.

Part 2 of 3 in the series More Than Muscle: What Mortality, Setbacks, and Superhumans Reveal

Modern health is shaped by old victories and new vulnerabilities. We’re living longer — but are we living better?

Imagine your great-great-grandparent asking how long people live today.

You tell them:

“Well… average life expectancy is about 80.”

They stare at you like you just grew wings. 🦋

Because not that long ago, making it to 40 was a feat. Surviving childhood? A statistical coin flip. The world was full of deadly infectious diseases, dangerous childbirth, poor sanitation, and almost no medical safety nets.

So yes — we’ve come a long way.

But hold on. We need to ask a harder question:

Does living longer really mean we’re healthier? Or are we just changing the labels on what’s killing us?

Let’s take a walk through history, immunity, medicine, and midlife crisis (just kidding — sort of 😅). We’re about to explore the new face of mortality — and what it really means for all of us.

🧼 From Germs to Genes: How We Started Living Longer

Let’s go back 200 years. 🕰️

You weren’t worried about your cholesterol — you were worried about cholera.

Most people didn’t live long enough to get heart disease because they died from infections:

• Tuberculosis

• Dysentery

• Smallpox

• Pneumonia

• Childbirth complications

  
  

These were the “OG” killers.

But in the 20th century, things shifted thanks to:

• Clean water and sanitation 🚿

• Vaccines 💉

• Antibiotics 💊

• Better nutrition 🥕

• Basic healthcare 🏥

As those threats declined, people started living longer. A win, right?

Absolutely. But longevity opened the door to something new…

📊 Shifting Causes of Death — 1900s vs 2020s

What kills us has changed. In the 1900s, infectious diseases ruled. Today, it's chronic illness like heart disease, cancer, and dementia. We're living longer - but not always better.

In 1900, around 40% of deaths were caused by infectious diseases.

Today? Less than 5%. 🙌

But what rose to take their place?

• Heart disease 🫀

• Cancer 🧬

• Diabetes 🩸

• Dementia 🧠

• Chronic lung conditions 🫁

  
  

These are the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) — and they’re the modern face of mortality.

🤔 But Wait… Isn’t That Progress?

Sure, it’s progress. But it’s complicated.

Because dying later doesn’t automatically mean living better.

Many of us are now living longer in poor health. More surgeries, more pills, more chronic conditions managed with apps, not eliminated. For some, the final decade of life is a constant juggling act of medications, check-ups, and symptom management.

So the real question isn’t “How long do we live?”

It’s “How many of those years are actually healthy?”

📈 Life Expectancy vs Healthy Life Expectancy

We’re living longer — but for how much of it are we thriving? Life expectancy has risen, but so has the number of years lived in poor health. More time isn’t always better time.

This graph says it all.

While life expectancy has gone up steadily since the 1950s, healthy life expectancy has lagged behind. That shaded red area? Those are the years spent in poor health — and that number’s growing.

We’re surviving longer, but often not thriving longer.

🧠 Why Are We Living Longer, But Not Better?

Here’s what’s going on under the hood:

1- We’re surviving diseases — not erasing them.

Modern medicine is fantastic at keeping us alive, but not always at curing what ails us. We manage diabetes, control high blood pressure, slow cancer — but we don’t always resolve the root issue.

2- Lifestyle is driving the new epidemics.

Processed food, sedentary jobs, poor sleep, and chronic stress are the invisible poisons of modern life. You’re unlikely to get cholera — but high blood sugar and inflammation are coming for you if you’re not careful.

3- We’re treating symptoms, not systems.

A lot of care is reactive. Something breaks, we fix it. But few systems are built to prevent the breakdown in the first place.

🧓 The Over-40 Shift: Where the Data Hits Home

If you’re over 40, here’s what the numbers whisper (and sometimes shout):

• Muscle mass declines ~1% per year after 40 unless you train 🏋️

• Risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer increases exponentially

• Injuries take longer to recover, and pain becomes more persistent

• Blood sugar regulation changes (hello, insulin resistance)

• Your ability to bounce back? Still strong — but not automatic

  
  

The point isn’t fear. It’s clarity. Knowing what you’re up against lets you fight smart.

🔍 Disease Burden by Age Group

The body keeps the score — and the score changes with age. In our early years, infections and injuries dominate. From midlife onward, chronic conditions take over the burden. Data source: Global Burden of Disease Study, 2019. DALYs = Disability-Adjusted Life Years, a measure combining years lost to early death and years lived with illness or disability.

Each age bracket carries its own battle.

• Kids struggle most with infections.

• Teens and 20s? Accidents, violence, and mental health.

• But from 40 onward — it’s the slow, heavy burden of chronic disease.

Chronic pain. Cognitive decline. Cancer. Degeneration. These don’t spike out of nowhere. They creep up after years of little things that didn’t get addressed.

This is where prevention becomes everything.

🧪 Are We Just Trading One Death for Another?

Kind of, yeah.

But the point isn’t to get dark. It’s to get real.

We’ve “solved” old problems with modern solutions — but created new ones in their place.

Instead of dying from infection at 35, we’re dying from inflammation at 75. Instead of one sudden event, we face slow decline. Instead of short lives, we risk long but poor ones.

So no… we’re not necessarily healthier. We’re just differently sick.

💡 So What Can We Actually Do About It?

Great news: you have more control than you think.

Even if your genetics aren’t elite, your environment and habits shape how your body ages. And it’s never too late to change trajectory.

Here’s how you can actually live better — not just longer:

✅ Train regularly

Strength, cardio, mobility — it all matters. After 40, motion is medicine.

✅ Prioritise sleep

7–9 hours is not optional. It’s your nightly repair mode.

✅ Eat for function

Protein, fibre, and whole foods over ultra-processed snacks. Every meal is either fighting or feeding inflammation.

✅ Handle stress

Chronic stress accelerates aging and disease. Learn to breathe, decompress, and reset.

✅ Get screened

Catch things early. Annual checks for heart, blood sugar, cancer markers? That’s wisdom in action.

🔚 Final Reps: The Real Meaning of Health

Health isn’t just avoiding death.

It’s being able to:

• Climb stairs without pain

• Pick up your grandchild

• React quickly to a stumble

• Sleep deeply

• Move confidently

• Think clearly

• Recover quickly

  
  

That’s real vitality.

So no — living longer doesn’t mean we’ve “won.”

But it does mean we have time to learn, adjust, and live wisely.

Especially after 40, that’s not a burden. It’s an opportunity.

Let’s use it. 💪

📚 More from this series:

More Than Muscle: What Mortality, Setbacks, and Superhumans Reveal

→ Part 1: Are They Built Different? What We Can (Actually) Learn from the Superhuman Few

→ Part 3: 🥊 Until You Get Punched in the Face. The Truth About Injury, Adaptation, and Moving Forward After 40

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📚 References

1. World Health Organization (2023). Noncommunicable diseases.

2. Office for National Statistics (UK) (2023). Health state life expectancy by national deprivation deciles, England.

3. Our World in Data (2024). Life expectancy and causes of death.

4. Gale, C.R., et al. (2018). Healthy life expectancy in older age.

5. UK Health Security Agency (2023). Health profile for England: 2023 update.

6. Global Burden of Disease Study (IHME, 2023). Top causes of death globally.

7. Marmot, M. (2020). Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On.

8. The Lancet Public Health (2023). Chronic diseases in the era of healthy ageing.