Living Longer vs. Existing Longer
I just watched the latest Bond movie, “No Time to Die.” I’d say it was one of the better Bond movies, if you are into that kind of thing. One of the last lines in the movie (spoiler alert) is delivered by the character “M” as he reads a quote from a book: “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
I thoroughly enjoyed the quote. I like to read philosophy. I like the work of the stoics. So, I Googled it. The quote is attributed to Jack London sometime around 1907. “I’d rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot.” Jack London died when he was 40, so it does seem like he may have really lived this quote.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt there was something missing from it. I don’t think living my days trying to prolong them and the idea of living as opposed to existing have to be mutually exclusive. Dr. Peter Attia, longevity expert, often talks about the idea of health span as opposed to life span. “Health span is a measure of how well, not necessarily long, you live … one without the other – long life span with poor health span or short life span with rich health span – isn’t what most people want.”
While one might think living longer is better, a long life is not necessarily synonymous to living a healthy life. “Life span refers to the total number of years alive, whereas health span is how many of those years are lived free from serious disease,” according to the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging. Maybe when Jack London wrote those words, it was more common that if you lived longer there wasn’t much of a health span possible. I definitely think a greater health span is more than possible today.
Using data from 2020, the average life expectancy was 73.2 years, with a health-adjusted life expectancy of only 64 years. That is about a 9-year gap from healthy living to death. That means on average we are unhealthy for about 13% of our lives. So, what can give you a better health span? Attia speaks of “8 Levers of Longevity” – Nutrition, Exercise, Sleep, Hormones, Stress Management, Sense of Purpose, Medications, and Avoidance of Harmful Behaviors (Jack London did not follow this one). I believe you can work on all of these things in order to prolong your life without sacrificing “living.” One thing that he left out that fits in with what he’s talking about is hope, literally.
It turns out our muscles do much more for our bodies than just move our bones. Myokines are defined as cytokines and other peptides that are produced, expressed, and released by muscle fibers and exert either autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine effects. Myokines are produced in response to regular exercise, and if you don’t use your muscles, these myokines aren’t released. They boast myriad beneficial effects by stimulating metabolic pathways, improving glucose uptake, improving fat oxidation, and regulating skeletal muscle regeneration. Recent research on a muscle-derived protein PGC-1a, which is elicited by exercise, can directly alter brain mechanisms involved in depression. In this research, mice that were genetically engineered to produce lower levels of PGC-1a in their skeletal muscles were subjected to a forced swim test (mean, I know). After a significant amount of stress, the mice appeared to “lose hope,” as evidenced by decreased survival efforts. These results suggest the possibility of “hope molecules” from skeletal muscles having the ability to influence mood-disorder symptoms. In the short term, the release of these “hope molecules” can be powerful anti-anxiety agents.
Usually when someone becomes anxious, they will feel much better if they get moving and get those muscles to release some hope. In the long term, PGC-1a and myokines can help your brain become more resilient when under stress, increase heart health and immune function, and some even have the ability to kill some cancer cells. The only way you can reap the benefits of this hope is to get exercising. You can increase the number of hope molecules released into the bloodstream by increasing the intensity of your exercise. Turn your bodily muscles into your own personal pharmacy. Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., is quoted as saying, “Every time we move our muscles, we are giving ourselves an intravenous dose of hope.”
Which brings us back to Jack London: “I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.” Maybe with the amount of hope molecules I’m releasing, I can be a superb meteor permanently. Or maybe just a little longer than a short, magnificent glow.
Now I’m just waiting for them to discover a suave molecule so I can be more like .007. Although he does get blown up in the end (I already gave you the spoiler alert). I guess there was time to die. Apparently, he didn’t get enough exercise.
