Longer lives, more cardiometabolic years: a global review of the health span–lifespan gap
A narrative review of global data reports that life expectancy rose faster than healthy life expectancy, widening the gap between how long people live and how long they live in good health, with cardiometabolic disease among the modifiable drivers. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
Global life expectancy rose by 8.1 years between 1990 and 2019, while healthy life expectancy rose by only 6.6 years. [1]
The review describes a widening gap between health span and lifespan, indicating more years lived with disability. [1]
In 2023, cardiovascular disease alone accounted for 437 million disability-adjusted life years and 19.2 million deaths. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Narrative review (abstract only)
- Population / context
- Global and regional populations, described across development levels, regions and demographic groups; no individual participants.
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Original publication
- October 16, 2026
Global gap between lifespan and healthy lifespan
This narrative review looks at worldwide and regional patterns of life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, with a focus on cardiometabolic disease. It frames the question of whether longer lives are also healthier lives, and how this differs across regions and development levels.
Supporting source [1]
Review of life expectancy and cardiometabolic burden data
The authors describe a narrative review, not a new study with its own participants. It examines global and regional patterns of life expectancy and healthy life expectancy and highlights disparities across development levels, regions and demographic groups, aiming to inform prevention and intervention strategies.
Supporting source [1]
Life expectancy rose more than healthy life expectancy
Between 1990 and 2019, global life expectancy rose by 8.1 years, while healthy life expectancy rose by only 6.6 years, so the gap widened. The review links this to more years lived with disability, with cardiometabolic diseases among the modifiable drivers. In 2023, cardiovascular disease alone accounted for 437 million disability-adjusted life years and 19.2 million deaths. These are population-level associations from a narrative review, not evidence that any single factor causes the gap.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
Abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. This is a narrative review, not a new study with its own participants, so the figures are drawn from other sources. The abstract reports population-level associations, not causes, and gives no methods for how studies were selected.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Jabbar ABA, Ahmed S, Hyder A, Sheikh S, Deo S, Bhatti S, Kalra D, Sahebkar A, Samad Z, Mishra SR, Virani SS. · europepmc.org · October 16, 2026