| Subject: Get a cat, make friends, think positive, add years to your life |
Author:
Betty
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Date Posted: 06:44:10 08/17/04 Tue
In reply to:
Betty
's message, "no no no, you can have her, she's too fat for me" on 10:16:27 03/10/04 Wed
Get a cat and add years to your life
If you want to live longer, get a cat, calm down, think positively, stop eating junk, lose weight, go to college, make more friends and find a spouse who makes you happy.
Do all these things, scientists say, and you could live up to 30 years longer than someone who doesn't.
On the other hand, getting a divorce, living close to a busy road and leaving school at 16 can take years off your life.
We know heavy smoking and drinking will bring an early call from the Grim Reaper - 10 years early, to be precise - but now scientists have measured accurately the effects of a much wider range of lifestyle choices on longevity.
For example, Canadian scientists have found living close to a main road is not a good idea as the ageing effect of traffic pollution produces results similar to those found in people who have heart disease or diabetes.
A study by economists at the National University of Ireland has found people in disadvantaged circumstances have more illnesses, greater distress, more disability and shorter lives than the more affluent. Research in the UK has found the difference in life expectancy between the highest and lowest social classes is around nine years.
A US study has found people without a high school education lose 9.3 years. It is thought early leavers are more likely to adopt unhealthy lifestyles.
People who somehow remain positive about getting older live longer, however. Yale University research found older people with positive perceptions of ageing lived 7.5 years longer than those who were less positive.
A happy personality can add nine years to the average life, particularly when the person acquires lots of friends. For the lonely, a cat or even a goldfish can help: owning a pet adds months to your life.
A happy marriage is said to be worth an extra five years, while it helps to have aged parents: centenarians are five times more likely to be the children of people who lived long.
Finally, it may pay to investigate a move to Andorra - it tops the lifespan table with an average age of 83.
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