Just because your dad had a double chin doesn't mean that you will — research suggests that life experiences may outweigh genes when it comes to ageing.

It seems that the amount of time that you spent on the beach as a teen with just a bottle of baby oil between you and the sun's rays isn't the only predictor of how well (or how badly) your face will age. According to a study from the US University Hospitals Case Center, published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, getting divorced, gaining or losing a lot of weight, and taking antidepressants wreak even more havoc on your looks.

The researchers set out to assess the effects of genetic predisposition and life experiences on appearance. To do so, they chose 186 pairs of identical twins, who are, of course, genetically programmed to age at the same pace. Each twin provided details about their health history and personal background, and each provided a photograph. These images were examined by a group of testers, who were asked to nominate the age they perceived the people in the photos to be.

The panel found that those twins who had been divorced looked two years older than those who were married, single or widowed. Weight played a role in age perception, with a twist: heavier twins under 40 years of age were thought to be older than they actually were; however, heavier twins over 40 were seen as younger than their real age, while heavier 40-plus twins who had lost a lot of weight quite quickly were also perceived to be older than they were. Perhaps most interesting of all was the effect of the use of antidepressants, with twins who had used these medicines looking much older than those who had not.

The emotional and financial stress of divorce is an understandable risk factor for accelerated ageing, and weight carries such emotional loading — no pun intended — that it is also not surprising that it affects our perception of what a person is like. But why antidepressants? The researchers speculate that, because these drugs can act as muscle relaxants, that long-term use may cause loss of tone in the facial muscles, hastening the development of sagging skin. The good news is that you can control and avoid several environmental stressors that cause premature ageing and – potentially – turn back your age clock.

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