From diet to exercise, many factors can influence how the body ages, but one new report says another piece of the puzzle may come from a less obvious place.
Evidence now suggests that persistent stress from difficult people may accelerate biological aging—changes in the body that reflect health and cellular wear rather than chronological age.
The report, written by Dr. Sebastian Ocklenburg of the Psychology Department at the MSH Medical School in Hamburg, Germany, and published in Psychology Today, states that “toxic people can cause a lot of stress with their behavior.”
How Stressful People May Affect the Body
The report examined research on individuals described as “hasslers”—people in a person’s social network who repeatedly create problems or increase stress.
Researchers found that exposure to these individuals correlated with faster biological aging.
Each additional “hassler” was associated with a roughly 1.5 percent faster pace of aging and about nine extra months added to a person’s biological age compared with people of the same chronological age.
“On average, the biological age of volunteers with toxic people in their social networks was 9 months higher than that of people of the same birth age without toxic friends or family members,” the report said.
“Interestingly, toxic family members or toxic friends had stronger effects on ageing than toxic spouses.”
‘Stay away’
The research’s main takeaway was that people should “stay away from toxic” individuals.
“They not only cause reduced mental well-being and frustration but also accelerate ageing and increase inflammation in the body,” the report warned.
“This suggests that for healthy ageing and general wellbeing, reducing contact with toxic people is highly important.”
The Growing Science of Biological Aging
Researchers are developing new ways to measure how quickly the body ages.
One previous Newsweek story reported on a study that found that a simple blood test could help predict who is likely to live longer.
The study, which was led by Duke Health in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, found that small RNA molecules, known as piRNAs, can accurately predict whether older adults are likely to survive at least two more years.
Rethinking Common Assumptions About Aging
Emerging research is also reshaping long-held ideas about aging, with Newsweek also having covered a study that found that many people end up improving with age.
Scientists at Yale University analyzed more than a decade of data from a large and nationally representative study of older adults in the United States, and found that the elderly can and do improve over time.
Researchers followed more than 11,000 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, tracking changes in cognition and physical function, and found that over a period of 12 years, 45 percent of people improved in at least one of these domains.
About 32 percent of participants improved cognitively, and 28 percent improved physically, many of them in clinically meaningful ways.
Newsweek has reached out to Dr. Ocklenburg for comment via email.