‘Relax, don’t do it!’: How excessive worry is aging you

If you feel life’s stresses and strains are ageing you prematurely, there’s a simple answer — stop worrying!

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 exceptionally healthy and fit, your biological age may be lower than your actual age.

But suppose you’re mainly sedentary, chronically ill or in poor physical condition. In that case, your biological age may be higher — meaning you’re more likely to be at higher risk of disease and live a shorter life.

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.

“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,” Harvard Medical School Professor Vadim Gladyshev said.

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 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.

“Our data revealed the dynamic nature of biological age – stress can trigger a rapid increase in biological age, which can be reversed,” researchers said in Cell Metabolism.