According to a new study published Tuesday January 10 in the British Journal of Dermatology, looking older than your age can mean health problems and being more likely to develop age-related conditions such as cataracts and osteoporosis. Explanations.
Looking older than your age can mean health issues.
“In other words, if you look younger than you are, the health of your organ systems, body, and mind is likely to reflect this“Lead author Tamar Nijsten, a dermatologist at Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, told the Daily Mail.
This Dutch study involved collecting photographs and medical histories of 2,679 Europeans between the ages of 51 and 87. An independent panel evaluated the photos.
Better health when you look younger
People who looked younger were also at lower risk for cataracts and age-related hearing loss, the study found. The panel of 27 people were asked to guess the age of the person in the picture.
Each subject was assigned a perceived age score, which the study authors calculated by taking the difference between the person’s actual age and their estimated age.
If the panel thought someone looked four years younger than their photo, they would receive a perceived age score of four – meaning the higher your score, the younger you look.
Specialist doctors also looked at the subjects’ health and lifestyle habits, finding that those who looked younger performed better in key areas.
Researchers believe there is a link between health problems, facial aging process and changes in tissue and bone density.
“The study clearly demonstrates that there is something going on, probably on a biological level and beyond the usual lifestyle factors such as UV exposure or smoking,” Nijsten told the Daily Mail.