Results of a recent study suggest that helping others if the key to long life. Stephanie L. Brown, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Michigan studied 423 married couples in which the husband was at least 65, for five years. Results showed that people who said they gave emotional or practical support to relatives, friends, or neighbors were half as likely to die during the study, compared with those gave no support to others. In order to make sure that “givers” weren’t healthier at the start of the study Brown took a number of factors into account, including age, sex, smoking, drinking, exercise, and personality traits linked to longevity. However, even after all these factors were considered, there was still a strong link between giving and longevity. UCLA psychologist Shelley Taylor believes that the findings ”should be taken with a grain of salt,” as previous research has shown that people who spend their lives helping others, such as carers of Alzheimer’s patients, tend to have weakened immune systems.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by USA TODAY on the 14th November 2002
