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If you feel life’s stresses and strains are ageing you prematurely, there’s a simple answer – stop worrying!
For a study shows that for those wanting to turn back the hands of time, becoming less stressed can reduce your biological age in just a few days.
While chronological age is the number of years you’ve been alive, biological age refers to how old your cells and tissues are, based on their current condition.
If you’re especially healthy and fit, your biological age may well be lower than your actual age.
But if you’re particularly sedentary, chronically ill or in poor physical condition, your biological age may be higher – meaning you’re more likely to be at higher risk of disease and live a shorter life.
A study shows that for those wanting to turn back the hands of time, becoming less stressed can reduce your biological age in just a few days
It has already been proven that our biological age rapidly increases in response to stress.
But new research indicates that this can be reversed over just a few days or months of feeling more relaxed.
Professor Vadim Gladyshev, of Harvard Medical School, said: ‘Despite the acknowledgement that biological age is at least somewhat malleable, the extent to which it undergoes reversible changes throughout life and the events that trigger such changes remains unknown.’
His team, along with scientists from Duke University, measured changes in biological age in humans and mice in response to various stressful situations.
Real-life scenarios that could cause this kind of stress include major surgery, pregnancy or severe illness.
While biological age rose relatively quickly in response to stress, it lowered back to baseline following recovery from the event.
Writing in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers said: ‘Our data revealed the dynamic nature of biological age – stress can trigger a rapid increase in biological age, which can be reversed.’
