Have you ever wondered what it would be like to control how long you live?
Worldwide, the average life expectancy is 68.3 years for males and 72.6 years for females. The United States has the 53rd highest average life span at 79 years.
New research conducted at the University of Edinburgh and published in the journal Nature Communications proposes the possibility of greatly increasing one’s life span through learning and exercising.
Exercise is the go-to advice usually dished out by physicians to improve the immune system. Why? Exercising works out the whole body both mentally and physically. Whenever someone exercises, their body produces chemicals known as endorphins.
Endorphins act similarly to morphine in its analgesic properties by reducing the perception of pain. Often with exercise, people reach the “runner’s high” or a state of euphoria. This is why exercise is useful in reducing stress and boosting self-esteem.
Not only is exercise good mentally, but there are obvious physical benefits. Physically, exercise tones the body, which helps maintain a healthy weight. This is imperative in warding off the development of various diseases such as type 2 diabetes and some cardiac diseases that may develop due to too much weight gain.
The study shows that being overweight can decrease one’s lifespan.
This new study suggests that for every kilogram of weight past the healthy ideal weight that corresponds to the age and height, life expectancy decreases by two months.
However, the researchers found that smoking had some of the most adverse health effects. By investigating various lifestyle factors that impact longevity, scientists were able to conclude that cigarette smoking and other activities that have the potential to lead to lung cancer play the largest role in decreasing life expectancy.
Through experiments conducted at the University of Edinburgh, the research team discovered that for every packet of cigarettes smoked per day, lifespan is shortened by seven years.
However, by cutting out smoking from your life, researchers say that it is possible to eventually get those seven years back.
By looking at the genes in the DNA of over 600,000 people from Europe, Australia, North America and the UK, researchers were able to discover other factors that affect lifespan.
For example, a gene that affects blood cholesterol levels showed that blood cholesterol has the potential to decrease life span by eight months.
Another gene that affects the immune system shows an increase of a year and a half to one’s lifespan by living a healthy lifestyle.
Besides lifestyle changes, the study also shows that education influences to how long we live. Researchers found that for every additional year spent studying, one’s lifespan also extends by approximately by a year. Studying for four years in college not only grants you a bachelor’s degree but also may give you a longer life.
In a separate study published in September in Social Science & Medicine, people who read books were said to have lived two years longer than those who didn’t read. This study was conducted on about 4,000 people over the age of 50.
Studying has been proven to not only increase many cognitive abilities, but has also now been shown to have a positive impact on longevity. These studies show that there are two key principles in living longer: exercise and studying.
