7:30AM GMT 02 Dec 2011
7 CommentsPeople whose blood sugar levels are higher than average look older than those with low levels, experts said.
Blood sugar, which can rise as a result of an unhealthy diet or lack of exercise, was already known to cause ill health but the study is believed to be the first to link high levels to appearance.
Researchers found that every additional millimole per litre increase in blood sugar, which in healthy people is usually between five and six mmol/l, adds five months of ageing to their facial features.
They measured the blood sugar of 602 people, while a group of 60 independent assessors studied two photographs of their faces to come up with a "perceived age" score.
Healthy people with low blood sugar typically looked a year younger than those with high readings, and a year-and-a-half younger than diabetics, the study published in the Age journal found.
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Alternatively, the glucose could hamper insulin production which is believed to play a central role in ageing, researchers said.
David Gunn, who led the Unilever study, said: "The higher glucose people had, they started looking older. Diabetics looked older again, and they have had the worst exposure to high glucose levels.
"This adds extra evidence that there is another reason to have a healthy lifestyle – because it is going to affect your appearance as well as your health."
Diana van Heemst, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, who contributed to the paper, said: “The results from this study further underscore how important regulation of blood glucose levels is for wellbeing and health in advanced middle age.
"The associated benefit of looking younger might provide an extra motivation to bring about healthy lifestyle changes in 50-to-70 year olds.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8929108/High-blood-sugar-speeds-up-ageing.html
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