CHILLING out is the key to staying youthful, scientists say.
Stress causes the body to biologically age quicker than it would naturally, US researchers found.
GettyChilling out and relaxing after stress is the key to staying youthful, researchers from Harvard University found[/caption]
But taking it easy like The Dude, played by Jeff Bridges in 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski, could reverse damaging changes.
A Harvard study on mice and humans found relaxation reduced the speed of the ageing within just days after a stressful event.
Dr Vadim Gladyshev said: “The ability to recover from stress may be an important determinant of successful ageing and longevity.
“The findings imply that severe stress increases mortality, at least in part, by increasing biological age.
“This notion immediately suggests that mortality may be decreased by reducing biological age.”
Around one in 14 Brits say they feel stressed every day, with 79 per cent citing work as the biggest cause in their lives.
Hospitalisations for stress-related illnesses cost the NHS around £8.1billion in 2019 alone, data suggests.
Previous research has shown chronic stress speeds up biological ageing by damaging DNA.
The latest study, published in Cell Metabolism, aimed to look at how stress-induced ageing could be reversed for the first time.
Researchers used special DNA clocks that estimate biological ageing in the liver, heart, brain, kidney in mice before and after they were exposed to stress.
They also measured biological age in human trauma patients immediately after emergency hip-replacement surgery and days later.
This showed the large stress-induced increase in age after surgery was reversed just days after recovery.
Dr Gladysheve said the change was “surprising” given the patients were already in their late 70s.
He said: “Even people of advanced chronological age have the capacity to reverse a stress-induced increase in their biological age.
“In the most fundamental sense, our data reveal the dynamic nature of biological age.
“Stress can trigger a rapid increase in biological age, which can be reversed.”