We Got Better at Keeping You Alive. Not at Keeping You Healthy

Poor commentary with no documentation or citation. At least point to the source of data for 200 plus countries. Presumably from IHME at the University of Washington.

This paper is worth reading. The caricature is not.

Global, regional, and national trends in the morbidity gap and contributing diseases, injuries, and risk factors, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023,” The Lancet Public Health, 2026, DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(26)00098-8

Also lovely new longitudinal data on centenarian heath across lifespan for a very large Swedish population that demonstrates persistent morbidity advantages compared to very well matched non-centenarians. Fun papers too: DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103396

DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igaf050

DOU: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3003784

And these conditions account are major contributors to the change: depression, anxiety, hearing loss, and low back pain. All are highly subject to diagnostic drift.

The more sick people there are the more providers are needed. System working as intended.

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