Party lifestyle takes its toll on health from ‘age 36’

Although the party lifestyle is fun, new research has revealed that it’s important to slow things down by age 36. This is why

When people are young and feel invincible, they seem to get away night after night with smoking and binge drinking.

But research shows that a party lifestyle takes 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 such as smoking, binge drinking and failing to exercise would affect their health.

There were relatively few consequences in the subjects’ twenties but from then on the adage “live fast, die young” began to apply, and by the time they reached their thirties ill health, including higher rates of depression, cancer, heart disease, lung disease and early death, was on the rise. 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 middle age in order to prevent years of ill health.

Drinking and smoking past the age of 36 has bigger consequences.

The study, published in Annals of Medicine, supports the decision of figures such as Prince Harry and Gwyneth Paltrow known for partying hard in their twenties but who have since cut down or given up on alcohol.

Dr Tiia Kekalainen, a health scientist who worked on the study, said: “It is never too late to change to healthier habits - and adopting healthier habits in midlife has benefits for older age.”

The study involved collecting data from hundreds of children born in the Finnish city of Jyvaskyla in 1959. It tracked whether they smoked, drank heavily or were inactive. All were associated with declines in both mental and physical health, and indulging in the three habits at the same time was particularly bad for long-term health.

This article originally appeared on The Times.

Originally published as Party lifestyle takes its toll on health from ‘age 36’