Being president of the government shortens life, according to a study

Not only is it a position of great responsibility, but it also has harmful effects on health.

The general elections from which the next president of the Kingdom of Spain will be elected are just around the corner, and four candidates are running for head of government.

But Mariano Rajoy, Pablo Iglesias, Albert Rivera and Pedro Sanchez should pay attention to the following lines, as recent research seems to indicate that becoming president of a nation shortens life expectancy..

Does being president shorten life expectancy?

So, since only one of the four can win the elections, those who are not fortunate enough to be elected as the highest representatives of the executive power will have at least one reason to smile.

This is not the first study in this line of research.

There has long been a debate as to whether government presidents have shorter life expectancy, and science has conducted research to confirm or disprove this hypothesis. science has conducted various research studies to confirm or disprove this hypothesis.. For example, one study found that presidents age twice as fast as non-presidents. On the other hand, another study found no relationship between premature aging and the position of head of government.

In any case, it is enough to look at some photos of government presidents at the beginning and end of their terms of office to see that their physical deterioration is evident. One of the most talked-about cases is that of the socialist ex-president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.. In the image on the left, the president of the eyebrow with 48 years. In the one on the right, 55 years old (current photograph). Doesn't it seem that more time has passed?

Recently, this new research has brought this debate back to the table. To do so, it has examined the electoral processes carried out in 17 countries from 1722 to 2015. The results seem to indicate that presidents of government live an average of 2.7 years less and experience a 23% higher risk of suffering a premature death than the person at the head of the opposition. Presidents such as Barak Obama or Rafael Correa should take note of these results.

A study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ)

The research appears in a special Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Its Christmas edition each year features rare but nevertheless scientifically sound topics.

"We are certain that there are differences between the mortality of state presidents and that of their rivals, i.e. that heads of government age faster," says Anupam Jena, author of the study and professor at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital (United States). The study also involved Andrew Olesku, a researcher at the same university, and Matthew Abola, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University.

The authors did something new with respect to past research.

Although this is not a new topic, the authors of the research did something different to quantify the hypothesis, as it is complicated to test. Instead of comparing a president or prime minister to the general population, they compared the data of the presidents with their opponents.. This was done because if we compare presidents, who tend to be people of high social status, with everyone else, there could be a significant bias, i.e., the results obtained would not be significant.

In addition, the researchers also broadened their focus by comparing the heads of government of 17 relatively stable countries in Western democracies, instead of limiting the study to U.S. presidents. It is important to note that the researchers did not consider dictators, but rather democratically elected presidents. It is clear, however, that this should also be checked with presidents from other continents, such as Latin America or Asia.

The cause could be the stress suffered by presidents.

The authors of the study acknowledged that ncould not find the exact reasons why presidents do not live as long as their rivals. as long as their rivals. But it is possible that the cause is stress. "Their hectic schedule and pace of work makes it difficult for presidents to lead a healthy lifestyle. They find it difficult to maintain a healthy eating and exercise routine," concludes Anupam Jena.

Being a politician can be a very tiring job. Continuous travel, issues that affect an entire country, continuous exposure to the public eye, etc. Therefore, being a prime minister can have its good things, but it is also a very big responsibility, which can be stressful.