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I wonder if this is true for gunners too? Hmmmm ....
http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/docs/516555.html
Go to the Head of the Class, Die Sooner
THURSDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDayNews) -- The great philosopher Mel Brooks once said it's good to be the king.
But new research suggests it may not be good to hold a top position in medical school, at least if you want to outlive your classmates.
Men and women who served as class presidents at the University of Toronto Medical School over the past century lived an average of 2.4 years less than their fellow students who stayed out of the limelight, says a new study.
The difference is "unlikely to be attributable to chance, and it's substantial in magnitude, along in lines of the decrease in survival for a 35-year-old man who continues smoking cigarettes," says study co-author Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.
This isn't the first time that researchers have examined links between life span and social status. In a 2001 study, Redelmeier found that screenwriters who win Academy Awards live shorter lives than runners-up; the exact opposite is true, oddly, for actors and actresses. Another study, published by an epidemiologist this year, found that U.S. senators lived about as long as other Americans.
In the new study, Redelmeier and a colleague made a list of more than 400 people who served as presidents of their classes (first year, second year and so on) at the Toronto medical school. They compared their life spans to the students whose faces appeared directly before and after theirs in medical school yearbooks.
The findings of the study appear in the December issue of Social Science & Medicine.
Almost all of the class presidents (88 percent) were men, and 93 percent were white. Seven percent managed to make their way into the Canadian editions of "Who's Who" later in life, compared to just one in 200 of their classmates.
Researchers found that at least 220 of the 1,521 medical school students in the study had died. The class presidents lived a median of 49 years after graduation, while their classmates lived a median of 2.4 years more.
No one is quite sure why the class presidents are quicker to die, but it's clear that they're a very driven group of people. "These are ambitious and popular and successful individuals, who accept a remarkable amount of responsibility at a time when they already face heavy demands from the formal curriculum," Redelmeier says.
The prevailing theory is that their aggressive nature kept many of the class presidents from taking care of themselves, even though they, as doctors, should know better. "They may not be getting regular sleep, getting regular exercise or following a regular diet," Redelmeier says.
Stress may be another explanation. Ronald Glaser, an immunologist who studies stress at Ohio State University, says studies have shown that mice with type A personalities (there is such a thing) are more susceptible to disease. The mice, all dominant males, were repeatedly forced to stake out their place at the top of the rodent pecking order. As a result, they had a tougher time fighting off viruses.
"The alpha mouse is dealing with the stresses of becoming the alpha mouse, of fighting off competitors," Glaser says. "He is paying for that physiologically."
The class presidents may face similar hazards from stress during their lives. "If they are the boss, if they are the department chair or president of the university, clearly those are alpha people," Glaser says.
What to do? "We're not suggesting that professionals stop running for election or that presidents deserve special medical care during their terms," Redelmeier says. "What we are suggesting is that individuals be mindful about becoming overworked and spread too thin trying to fulfill worthwhile intentions."
http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/docs/516555.html
Go to the Head of the Class, Die Sooner
THURSDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDayNews) -- The great philosopher Mel Brooks once said it's good to be the king.
But new research suggests it may not be good to hold a top position in medical school, at least if you want to outlive your classmates.
Men and women who served as class presidents at the University of Toronto Medical School over the past century lived an average of 2.4 years less than their fellow students who stayed out of the limelight, says a new study.
The difference is "unlikely to be attributable to chance, and it's substantial in magnitude, along in lines of the decrease in survival for a 35-year-old man who continues smoking cigarettes," says study co-author Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.
This isn't the first time that researchers have examined links between life span and social status. In a 2001 study, Redelmeier found that screenwriters who win Academy Awards live shorter lives than runners-up; the exact opposite is true, oddly, for actors and actresses. Another study, published by an epidemiologist this year, found that U.S. senators lived about as long as other Americans.
In the new study, Redelmeier and a colleague made a list of more than 400 people who served as presidents of their classes (first year, second year and so on) at the Toronto medical school. They compared their life spans to the students whose faces appeared directly before and after theirs in medical school yearbooks.
The findings of the study appear in the December issue of Social Science & Medicine.
Almost all of the class presidents (88 percent) were men, and 93 percent were white. Seven percent managed to make their way into the Canadian editions of "Who's Who" later in life, compared to just one in 200 of their classmates.
Researchers found that at least 220 of the 1,521 medical school students in the study had died. The class presidents lived a median of 49 years after graduation, while their classmates lived a median of 2.4 years more.
No one is quite sure why the class presidents are quicker to die, but it's clear that they're a very driven group of people. "These are ambitious and popular and successful individuals, who accept a remarkable amount of responsibility at a time when they already face heavy demands from the formal curriculum," Redelmeier says.
The prevailing theory is that their aggressive nature kept many of the class presidents from taking care of themselves, even though they, as doctors, should know better. "They may not be getting regular sleep, getting regular exercise or following a regular diet," Redelmeier says.
Stress may be another explanation. Ronald Glaser, an immunologist who studies stress at Ohio State University, says studies have shown that mice with type A personalities (there is such a thing) are more susceptible to disease. The mice, all dominant males, were repeatedly forced to stake out their place at the top of the rodent pecking order. As a result, they had a tougher time fighting off viruses.
"The alpha mouse is dealing with the stresses of becoming the alpha mouse, of fighting off competitors," Glaser says. "He is paying for that physiologically."
The class presidents may face similar hazards from stress during their lives. "If they are the boss, if they are the department chair or president of the university, clearly those are alpha people," Glaser says.
What to do? "We're not suggesting that professionals stop running for election or that presidents deserve special medical care during their terms," Redelmeier says. "What we are suggesting is that individuals be mindful about becoming overworked and spread too thin trying to fulfill worthwhile intentions."
Me too. This is great news.
