The Link Between Perceived and Real Aging and Early Death

Aging happens in different ways, both physically and mentally. But how these two types of aging affect our lifespan isn't well-studied. So, a recent study looked into this. They checked if signs like hearing loss, tooth loss, falls, and how old people feel they are might predict early death.Over 369, 000 UK Biobank participants who didn't have heart disease or cancer at the start were followed for about 13 years. During this time, 22, 934 people died earlier than expected. Those who had all four signs were at a much higher risk of dying early from all causes, heart disease, cancer, and other reasons. This extra risk was even more for younger people, those with unhealthy habits, and those from lower-income groups. When combined with frailty, these signs made the risk of early death even worse. Another study, Health and Retirement Study, backed up these findings. This shows that looking at both how people feel they're aging and actual signs of aging can help predict and maybe prevent early death.