Fries proposes the compression of morbidity
James Fries argues in the New England Journal of Medicine that if lifespan is bounded, and if the onset of chronic disease can be postponed faster than death, then illness will be compressed into a shorter period at the end of life. The hypothesis defines healthspan as the quantity that matters, and it has not been confirmed: the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy has not narrowed.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Compression of mortality (rectangularisation of the survival curve) · phenomenon · Global, best measured in high-income national series · not located
- Healthspan · concept · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity
Supports the compression-of-morbidity hypothesis as originally stated. V55 verification basis: not retrieved in this session; the paper is cited for the hypothesis, not as evidence that it holds.
The New England Journal of Medicine · 1980 · Partly verified
Fries J.F., The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 303, 1980
Recorded on Compression of mortality (rectangularisation of the survival curve)
- Fries proposes the compression of morbidity
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Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.