Kevin, a middle-aged man, takes scrupulously good care of himself, and says he wants to live to a ripe old age and burn like an incandescent light bulb: it functions at 100 percent capacity then suddenly "flames out." Which of the following terms best describes what Kevin is talking about?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Kevin's desire to live a long life and suddenly "flame out" is consistent with the compression of morbidity hypothesis, which suggests that by leading a healthy lifestyle, one can delay the onset of chronic illness and disability, compressing the period of morbidity into a shorter period before death. This leads to a longer period of healthy, active life followed by a short period of disability and death.

Kevin, a Middle-Aged Man, Takes Scrupulously Good Care of Himself