‘The more ill you are, the less you are healthy’ is a key phrase in general medicine but especially in the field of pediatrics. Its meaning is bit difficult to explain. It is the medical slang version of “better remain young and healthy than old and ill”.
We use this phrase when presenting a very complex patient with an extensive past medical history. For example, when the doctor says something along the lines of “I don’t understand why this chronic patient had to be ventilated” and somebody else replies “well you know, the more ill you are, the less you are healthy”.