BBC - Why some age prematurely Looking old for one's age may have as much do to with chemicals in the blood as it has with a person's way of life, research suggests.

Bad habits such as smoking may have a premature ageing effect.

But scientists from Imperial College, London, have found that high cholesterol levels in men have a similar effect.

Professor Chris Bulpitt and his team also found that men who look older than their years had high levels of haemoglobin, the pigment in red blood cells which carries oxygen.

Women who appeared older had lower than average levels of bilirubin - a substance made when red blood cells break down - and higher levels of protein in their blood plasma.

Civil servants

In the study 447 civil servants aged 38 to 57 were assessed by two nurses and a doctor who tried to guess their ages.

Their judgements were generally accurate, although men tended to look about four months older than their actual age, and women often appeared to be about six months younger.

Professor Bulpitt said: "We were of course expecting to see that grey hair and balding were associated with looking older - but we were quite surprised by the association with haemoglobin and cholesterol.

"We think that there might be a vascular connection, and one hypothesis is that small blood vessels to the skin are damaged, whether by cholesterol or smoking, making you more wrinkled and older looking."

The study found that looking older was not related to alcohol consumption, or one's level of attainment at work.

-- Anonymous, November 18, 2001