Dr. Ali Mostashari, CEO of precision health AI firm LifeNome, said it is time to usher in the era of purposespan, a concept he discusses in a recent Psychology Today article. LifeNome now factors in purpose among calculations for lifespan and health span for its clients.
“Purpose is something you want to wake up for in the morning and can’t wait to get to it,” he said. “It’s not easy to measure, and it’s also not easy to give people purpose.”
Longevity is the study of lifespan, such as how long a person will live and includes considerations such as biological age. Health span surrounds vitality, or the quality of life an individual has. At the most fundamental level, purposespan is the calculation of how many years someone is living with a purpose versus how many years without a purpose.
Why is purpose so important to overall health?
Take this statistic for example.
Mostashari cites a 2022 study in which people with cancer had 46% less likelihood of mortality within four years if they had purpose in their lives as compared to individuals with the same diseases but without a sense of purpose.
“When you’re going through a tough disease, whether you really want to be alive makes the body respond very differently to treatment… you have something to fight for, and your body goes with it,” he said.
Stress and a belief system
Hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol rise during anxious periods and suppress the immune system. They can ultimately impact a person’s ability to absorb nutrients. For example, high cortisol levels reduce nutrient intakes by around 80%.
“So, if someone’s stressed and they’re having a really nutritious soup, only 20% of the nutrition gets to them,” Mostashari said.
Managing stress is made easier, however, if a person has a religious belief. Studies show monks and nuns tend to live for a long time, primarily because their stress levels are lower. For belief systems that incorporate meditation, practitioners may have lower cortisol levels, also implicated in extending health span and longevity.
People who believe in a divine creator also seem to have an advantage when it comes to dealing with physical and psychological adversity.
“Studies show that if a person has faith it creates more resilience psychologically in the face of severe illness,” Mostashari said.
He added the people who are more skeptical or who are more critical thinkers often pay a cost when it comes to stress management.
That is not to say that being a critical thinker or an educated person does not have benefits. When it comes to health span, educated people are more likely to make better decisions regarding their health.
“It doesn’t mean that someone who doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree may not actually know more. However, it generally is a trend where increasing education means making better choices,” Mostashari said.
Purpose does not have to be altruistic in nature. A dictator can approach his day with a purposeful agenda. Mostashari said biological systems do not recognize morality.
