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Smiling could add years to your life | Mail Online

The secret to a longer life could be as simple as cracking a smile.

The broader your grin and the deeper the creases around your eyes when you smile, the longer you are likely to live, a study has shown.

The research adds to mounting evidence that a happy disposition can have a powerful impact on health as well as life expectancy.

Broader grins and wrinkles around the eyes reflect an underlying positive outlook on life that translates into better long-term health, the researchers believe.

The conclusions emerged from a study of old photographs.

Experts at Wayne State University, Michigan, studied 230 pictures of major league baseball players printed in the 1952 Baseball Register.

The register listed each player's statistics, such as date of birth, weight, marital status and career details.

The researchers ranked each player according to whether they had no smile at all, a partial smile, where only the muscles around the mouth were involved, or a full-blown smile that featured a toothy grin, raised cheeks and creases around the eyes.

The researchers then compared the photos with the life span of each player.

The results revealed that of the 184 players that had since died, those in the 'no smile' category had lived an average of 72.9 years.

Among the 'partial smiles' group, lifespan had averaged out at 75. But those with the biggest grins had lived for an average of 79.9 years - seven more than their straight-faced colleagues.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, found putting on a false grin may not give the same benefit because the extra life expectancy was only seen in players who had genuine smiles, known as Duchenne smiles.

These are smiles that engage groups of muscles around the mouth and eyes and are named after the 19th-century neurologist who defined them in detail.

'Non-Duchenne' smiles affect only the mouth.

The findings support another study which showed that being happy can reduce the risk of heart disease.

Scientists who studied 1,700 people over ten years found those who were most anxious and depressed were more likely to suffer clogged arteries and high blood pressure.