Compressed morbidity is a term used to describe one of the goals of healthy aging and longevity. Morbidity is the presence or incidence of a disease or medical condition. It refers to the burden that an illness or health condition causes. Compression refers to the concept of pushing all the morbidity of one’s life into as small a time period as possible. Compression of morbidity, then, is the goal of living disease and illness free for as long as possible.
We don’t use the term often, but it is a good bet that it would be on everyone’s wish list if asked. The key is to live abnormally! We must move and aggressively attack the aging process. This doesn’t mean aggressively attacking a fitness program; it simply means doing it now and doing it intelligently. What is the point of living to be 100 if your last 20 years are spent convalescing?
Ask yourself the question “am I doing all I can to compress morbidity as I age”? Then ask if doing so is important to you. Be sure the two line up with one another.
