Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
This is from a paper by Laura M. Hsu via Robin Hanson:
First, women who think they look younger after having their hair colored/cut show a decrease in blood pressure and appear younger in photographs (in which their hair is cropped out) to independent raters. Second, clothing is an age-related cue. Uniforms eliminate these age-related cues: Those who wear work uniforms have lower morbidity than do those who earn the same amount of money and do not wear work uniforms. Third, baldness cues old age. Men who bald prematurely see an older self and therefore age faster: Prematurely bald men have an excess risk of getting prostate cancer and coronary heart disease than do men who do not prematurely bald. Fourth, women who bear children later in life are surrounded by younger age-related cues: Older mothers have a longer life expectancy than do women who bear children earlier in life. Last, large spousal age differences result in age-incongruent cues: Younger spouses live shorter lives and older spouses live longer lives than do controls.
Interesting.
Interesting post. However, I have a couple observations. Women who bear children later in life live longer not because they bore children late. Rather, they were able to conceive later in life because they have (good) genes and are aging more slowly than their peers. Giving birth after age 40 is an indepenant predictor of surviving to the age of 100.
Premature baldness in men could be caused by the same factors that also cause them to suffer heart disease sooner. Some have suggested testosterone.
Also, women who feel younger live longer? Maybe they feel younger because they are in better health — which is why they live longer.
These all remind me of an old study that found regular church attendance is correlated with longevity. Later they realized that the ability to attend church regularly is a proxy for good health.
Not sure if the premise is true, but it’s a nice thought. (No pun intended.)
All I have to do is think good thoughts?
It would be nice if true.