Life stories told by a single variable
This simple piece depicts the vitality of 8 different people across their life span. The top is maximum vitality, the bottom death. Age at death ranges from 2 to 89 years, and is represented by color at the end of individual “life lines”. Spectral distance from blue indicates age. The exception is the 89-year old woman who came “full circle” back to violet. The lines tell 8 very different life stories. What happened to these people during their lives, and what ended them?
More details
The 8 lives shown are based on patients the artist encountered when he was a clinician: 2-year old boy (blue) – Severe encephalopathy and other birth defects limited development and eventually led to death.
27-year old man (teal) – Illicit drug use starting early in life and later homelessness impacted health; death from complications of overdose.
35-year old woman (green) – Healthy and vital mother of 4 until fatal auto accident. 46-year old woman (yellow) – Developed cancer in her 20s that was poorly responsive to treatment, and eventually led to her death.
51-year old man (yellow-orange) – Never fully recovered from severe war injuries, and died during surgery for chronic complications of those injuries.
59-year old woman (orange) – Lifelong poor health habits coupled with genetic predispositions for chronic disease eventually led to death during hospitalization.
71-year old man (red) – Almost lifelong heavy smoking reduced lung function and otherwise impacted health until death from respiratory failure.
89-year old woman (violet) – Nearly died as a teenager due to injuries from a horseback riding accident, recovered, and then lived a long life before dying during hospitalization for the flu.
Vitality is a real variable, yet difficult to quantify in real terms. What are the units of vitality? In subjective terms, a highly trained athlete in their 20s may be near maximum vitality, whereas someone comatose on life support has minimal vitality.
How vital are you, right now? What does your vitality line look like now, and how will it appear in the future? What can you do to stabilize or increase your vitality?
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21953378: Disentangling vitality, well-being, and quality of life: a conceptual examination emphasizing their similarities and differences with special application in the physical activity domain. Guérin E. J Phys Act Health. 9(6): 896-908, 2012.