When people are young and feel invincible, they seem to get away with night after night of chain smoking and binge drinking.
But new research shows such a party lifestyle will take its toll on your health by the age of 36, and not just because hangovers get worse as you get older.
Researchers in Finland tracked 371 people throughout their lives, investigating how vices including smoking, binge drinking and not exercising affected health.
Kate Moss indulges in what the scientists termed “risky behaviour”
JAMES DEVANEY/GETTY IMAGES
There were relatively few consequences to heavy drinking and smoking in your twenties, but from then on there is truth to the old adage “live fast, die young”.
By the time people reached their thirties, the unhealthy habits were found to result in ill health, including higher rates of depression, cancer, heart disease, lung disease and early death. These harms remained consistent throughout people’s forties, fifties and sixties.
Scientists said it showed the importance of quitting smoking and cutting down on alcohol before you hit middle age, in order to prevent years of ill-health.
The study, published in Annals of Medicine, supports a celebrity trend for shifting to wellness in middle age. Figures such as Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and Gwyneth Paltrow were all known for partying hard in their twenties but have since cut down or given up on booze.
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Dr Tiia Kekalainen, a health scientist who worked on the study, said: “Our findings highlight the importance of tackling risky health behaviours, such as smoking, heavy drinking and physical inactivity, as early as possible to prevent the damage they do from building up over the years, culminating in poor mental and physical health later in life.
“However, it is never too late to change to healthier habits. Adopting healthier habits in midlife also has benefits for older age.”
The study involved data from hundreds of children who were born in the Finnish city of Jyvaskyla in 1959. They completed health checks when they were 27 years old and again when they were aged 36, 42, 50 and 61. This involved assessing three risky behaviours — if they smoked, drank heavily and were inactive.
All three habits were associated with declines in both mental and physical health, with the effects apparent by the time participants were in their mid-thirties. Indulging in all three habits was particularly bad for health in the long term.
The habits were linked to an array of non-infectious diseases such as heart disease and cancer, which cause almost three quarters of deaths worldwide. “By following a healthy lifestyle, an individual can cut their risk of developing these illnesses and reduce their odds of an early death,” said Kekalainen.