Reader\'s Digest Australia & New Zealand - June 2018

June• 2018 | 21

Hardlivingcanleadtohardlooks,according

to new research. Are you at risk? BY ELISA ROLAND

PHOTO: ISTOCK

Bad Habits

hat Can Age

You r Face

THE OLDER WE GET,the more we

obsess over looking younger. Genes

are the main indicator of how well

(or poorly) you’ll age, but if you tend

to indulge in two less-than-healthy

habits – heavy drinking and smoking

• your face will age much faster,
  according to a study in theJournal of
  Epidemiology & Community Health.
  Danish researchers tapped data
  from the Copenhagen City Heart
  Study to track visible signs of ageing
  in 11,500 adults for 11.5 years. Study
  participants were queried about how
  much they drank and smoked as part
  of a general review of their lifestyle
  habits. Researchers also examined
  their ears, eyes and hairlines.
  he results revealed that, yes, hard
  living equals fast ageing. Women
  who downed 28 or more drinks a
  week were 33 per cent more likely to
  develop discolouration in the eyes

linked to ageing, compared to women

who had fewer than seven drinks a

week. For men, the risk jumped to 35

per cent when they had 35 or more

drinks a week. Smoking a pack of

cigarettes a day for more than 15 years

raised the odds that a woman’s eyes

would betray signs of ageing by 41 per

cent, compared to a non-smoker; the

risk was 12 per cent for male smokers.

“his is the irst prospective study

to show that alcohol and smoking

are associated with the development

of visible age-related signs and thus

generally looking older than one’s

actual age,” the researchers told

Science Daily. “his may relect that

heavy drinking and smoking increases

general ageing of the body.”

Light to moderate drinkers didn’t

have any greater visible ageing signs

than non-drinkers, so drinking in

moderation gets a pass.