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Posted on Aug 12, 2016, 6 a.m.
Feeling youthful may improve a person's chances of living longer.
A large-scale study confirms the notion that feeling younger than your chronological age reduces the chances of dying. Andrew Steptoe, from the University College London (United Kingdom), and colleagues analyzed data collected on over 6,000 adults, ages 52 years and older. In 2004 or 2005, researchers asked the participants how old they felt. More than two-thirds felt at least three years younger than their real age, while a quarter felt their real age and less than 5% felt more than a year older. The team followed the subjects through March 2013, finding that about 14% of those who felt younger had died, compared to about 19% of those who felt their age and about a quarter of those who felt older.
Rippon I, Steptoe A. “Feeling Old vs Being Old: Associations Between Self-perceived Age and Mortality.” JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Dec 15.
