[Medical Journal Confirms] Heads of states age faster and die younger

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Presidents and prime ministers 'age faster and die sooner'

Political leaders age faster than normal and that the stress of the job may shave almost three years off their life expectancy, new study finds


President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron eat hot dogs while watching a basketball game Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

By AP
1:18AM GMT 15 Dec 2015

Leading a country comes with extraordinary privileges but also, apparently, a price: new research suggests that political leaders age faster than normal and that the stress of the job may shave almost three years off their life expectancy.

Doctors analysed how long presidents and prime ministers in 17 countries – including Britain, Canada, France, Germany and the US – survived after leaving office, compared to the losing candidates. They also observed the number of years that heads of state lived versus what was expected for someone of the same age and gender.


(From left) David Cameron in 2010, David Cameron in 2014 Photo: REX / PA

After considering the fates of 279 heads of state and 261 runners-up, they concluded former leaders lived for almost three fewer years than expected. The study was published online on Monday in the medical journal, The BMJ.


All change: Barack Obama meets David Cameron in July 2008, before either had been elected. Photo: PAUL GROVER

"To lose a few years is significant," said Dr Anupam Jena of Harvard Medical School, the study's senior author.

"(Leaders) probably felt national priorities were much more pressing than eating right and exercising," he said, saying former US President Bill Clinton's admitted weakness for fast food may have resulted in "stress eating".

"Maybe if there had been world peace, his lifestyle would have been different," Jena said.


David Cameron meeting Barack Obama in New York in 2011 Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

After leaving office, Clinton had bypass surgery; he subsequently said he lost weight and became vegan to try to reverse his heart disease.

Other researchers have found that American presidents actually live longer than their constituents.

"The stress (of leading a country) could accelerate the greying of hair and wrinkling of skin, but that doesn't mean they'll die earlier," said S. Jay Olshansky, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

His research on former commanders in chief found they had a longer-than-expected life expectancy, partly because they are part of the top one per cent of the population that are highly educated, wealthy and have better access to health care than most.

Still, even US President Barack Obama recently joked with Canada's new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who is about a decade younger than Obama – about how a country's top office can speed up ageing. Obama advised Trudeau he should start dying his hair to avoid going grey.

Jena said Trudeau – who is a keen outdoorsman – might fare better than expected.

"Someone like him, who is fit, may be in a better starting position than others," he said. "The years could be kinder to him."




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