Exams might cause stress, which doesn’t do much for a person’s life expectancy, but a Boston University professor has a test that could actually help its takers live longer.
The Life Expectancy Calculator uses 40 multiple-choice questions to predict how long a person will live, and then gives feedback based on its findings to improve life expectancy.
By cutting caffeine, the calculator tacks on another six months. It adds a year for minimizing sun exposure and for flossing daily. By exercising six to seven times per week, the calculator estimates living an additional five years.
Boston University School of Medicine New England Centenarian Study Director Thomas Perls said he invented the calculator not to be perfectly accurate, but instead as a ‘public health intervention.’ It is used to show ‘how important lifestyle choices are for how long a person will live and the quality of that life,’ Perls said.
Perls, a BU associate geriatrics professor, said he had two suggestions for college-aged people: Don’t smoke and learn to manage stress.’
Smoking can deduct up to 15 years from a person’s life expectancy, even if only during college years, and stress can knock off anywhere from six months to two years, Perls said. Young people need to find a way to cope with stress, whether through physical exercise, yoga or deep breaths, he said.
‘If you do everything right ‘-‘- a positive attitude, not be obese, minimize red meat consumption, don’t smoke, floss ‘-‘- you should at least get to your late 80s,’ Perls said.
Plans are in place to develop a calculator more specific to young adults, and Perls will likely begin working on it in spring 2009, Perls said. He said these questions will focus more on stress, promiscuous sex and issues of suicide and depression.
Perls invented the calculator in 1999 for his book, Living to 100: Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any Age, and put the calculator online in 2000. It has since evolved from 26 questions to 40, and Perls has changed some of the content based on new research developments, he said. The site regularly gets about 5,000 to 50,000 visits per month.
College of Communication sophomore Samantha Rajotte said her life expectancy, which was 89 years, was much higher than she expected. She thinks the calculator did not ask enough about her weight, exercise habits or family history.
Amanda Parker, a COM sophomore, said she is ‘bummed’ about her life expectancy of 84 years.
‘I don’t think I would rely on it that much, because it seems like it’s more geared toward people in their 40s,’ she said. ‘They asked how much I drink, how stressed I am, how much fast food I eat, but I do those things way more now than I will at any point in my life.’
‘It’s stuff everyone knows you’re supposed to do anyway,’ she said. ‘Maybe in the next couple days, I might buy a salad instead of Chinese, but I’m not willing to do anything drastic, and I’m not cutting out caffeine to live six months more. I’ll die in June instead of December.’
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