sábado, 20 de abril de 2013

Fama y longevidad



Un nuevo estudio conducido por una revista de medicina en Australia.
Informa la BBC que se analizaron 1000 obituarios en elNew York Times entre el 2009 y 2011 y encontraron que actores, cantantes, deportistas profesionales, y celebridades del mundo de los famosos murieron a una edad promedio de 77 años, mientras que la edad promedio de muerte para compositores, artistas y escritores era 79.
Los académicos, incluyendo historiadores y economistas tienden vivir un poco más, alcanzando un promedio de 82 años, agrega el estudio. Los empresarios o políticos tienden a llegar a los 83.
Si bien los investigadores no pudieron identificar una razón por los que quienes acaparan titulares tienden a morir más jóvenes, un profesor dice que la fama temprana en la vida predispone que se adopten comportamientos lesivos para la salud durante el resto de sus vidas, incluso después de que el éxito se ha desvanecido.
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The data was published in QJM: An International Journal of Medicine.
Researchers in Australia looked at 1,000 obituaries in the New York Times between 2009 and 2011.
They showed that performers, such as actors, singers and musicians, as well those who made a career in sport died the youngest - at an average age of 77.
Writers, composers and artists died at 79. Those classed as academics, including historians and economists, survived until 82 on average while those in business or politics made 83.
The researchers, at the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales, said cancer, particularly tumours in the lungs, was more common in performers.
Costly
Professor Richard Epstein said: "A one-off retrospective analysis like this can't prove anything, but it raises some interesting questions.

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They may be paying a high price for their career”
Honey Langcaster-JamesPsychologist
"First, if it is true that successful performers and sports players tend to enjoy shorter lives, does this imply that fame at younger ages predisposes to poor health behaviours in later life after success has faded?
"Or that psychological and family pressures favouring unusually high public achievement lead to self-destructive tendencies throughout life?
"Or that risk-taking personality traits maximise one's chances of success, with the use of cigarettes, alcohol or illicit drugs improving one's performance output in the short term?"
He added that, whatever the reason, the findings should be considered as a "health warning to young people aspiring to become stars".
Honey Langcaster-James, a psychologist who specialises in celebrity behaviour, said so few people achieved star status that it made it difficult to scientifically study the effect on people's lives.
She said: "The results are interesting of themselves as they suggest an inherent hazard of a public career and that all that glitters is not necessarily gold.
"They may be paying a high price for their career."
However she said it was not easy to come up with a scientific explanation.
On the one hand she said such a career "has unique stressors" such as "the pressure to live up to a public image, which can lead to risky behaviours".
Yet she suspected that "particular personal characteristics predispose people to wanting a career in the public arena", which may also lead to lifestyle choices affecting health.