Middle-aged people with slow reactions may be at increased risk of dying young, researchers reported last night.
The British researchers say the speed of reaction may indicate someone’s overall health.
Their analysis linked slow reactions to a 25% increased risk of dying in a 15-year period.
Researchers at University College, London, and at Edinburgh University studied the fate of more than 5,000 adults under the age of 60 who took part in a US test of reaction times at the beginning of the 1990s.
During the 15 years that followed some 378 people died.
The researchers say their analysis takes account of other lifestyle factors, such as smoking, and also found no link between reaction times and death from cancer or lung diseases.
The findings have been reported in the journal PLoS One.
Researcher Dr Gareth Hagger-Johnson said: “Reaction time is thought to reflect a basic aspect of the central nervous system and speed of information processing is considered a basic cognitive ability (mental skill). Reaction time may indicate how well our central nervous and other systems in the body are working.
"People who are consistently slow to respond to new information may go on to experience problems that increase their risk of early death.
"In the future, we may be able to use reaction times to monitor health and survival. For now, a healthy lifestyle is the best thing people can do in order to live longer."
Reaction time and mortality from the major causes of death: The NHANES-III study. PLoS One 29 January 2014
Leave a Reply