Reference

Glossary

The proper names, in plain words. Every term a post links to lives here.

Lifespan: Total years lived, start to finish.; More years, or more good years?
Healthspan: Years lived in good health, strong, capable, disease-free. The number longevity actually cares about.; More years, or more good years?
Compression of morbidity: Squeezing the sick, frail years into the shortest window at the very end of life.; More years, or more good years?
Hallmarks of aging: The agreed list of twelve biological root drivers of ageing. They feed each other in a cascade rather than acting alone.; The hallmarks of aging
Cellular senescence: "Zombie cells" that stop dividing but refuse to die, leaking inflammatory signals into the body.
Inflammaging: The low-grade chronic inflammation that builds with age, a fire alarm that never switches off.
Proteostasis: The cell’s quality control for proteins: building, folding and clearing them. It slows with age.
Nutrient sensing: How a cell detects food and energy and switches between growth and repair.; The build-vs-repair switch
mTOR: The master "grow" switch, turned up by protein and feeding. Builds muscle; harmful when always on.; The build-vs-repair switch
AMPK: The "repair / energy-low" switch, turned up by exercise and fasting. The counterweight to mTOR.; The build-vs-repair switch
Insulin resistance: When cells stop responding to insulin, so the body has to shout louder (high insulin). The start of metabolic disease.; The build-vs-repair switch
HOMA-IR: A simple calculation from fasting glucose and insulin that estimates insulin resistance.; The build-vs-repair switch
Mitochondria: The cell’s "batteries", the organelles that produce most of its usable energy (ATP). Fewer and leakier ones is a core driver of ageing.; Why you have to slow down to speed up
Mitochondrial biogenesis: The body building new mitochondria in response to aerobic training, more batteries, not just more charge.
VO₂max: The most oxygen you can use at full effort. A strong, re-testable predictor of how long and how well you live, the engine’s "ceiling".; Why you have to slow down to speed up
Zone 2: Easy, conversational-pace cardio. Hard enough to train the aerobic base, easy enough to hold a chat. Builds battery density.; Why you have to slow down to speed up

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