Holding back the years: Madonna can expect her recent divorce from Guy Ritchie to add two years to her appearance

If you've been through it, this will probably come as no surprise. Divorce can add years to a person's face, it is claimed.

Researchers found that marriage breakdown¹ can take a significant toll² on appearance.

They looked at identical twins, who would be genetically³ predisposed to age at a similar pace, to determine whether certain experiences affected⁴ ageing.

'A person's heritage may initially⁵ dictate⁶ how they age but if you introduce certain factors into your life, you will certainly age faster, and likewise, if you avoid those factors you can slow down the hands of time,' said Professor Bahaman Guyuron, who led the study.

Professor Guyuron and his colleagues gathered information from questionnaires and digital images taken from 186 pairs of twins.

An independent panel of judges then viewed the images for perceived age differences between the siblings⁷.

The results showed that the twin who had gone through a divorce appeared two years older than the one who was married, single or had been widowed.

Those who took antidepressants or were overweight also aged⁸ quicker.

It is thought antidepressants can calm the facial muscles, causing them to sag⁹ in longterm users.

The research was conducted by the Case Western Reserve University in the U.S., and published in the Journal Of The American Society Of Plastic Surgeons.

Sun exposure, smoking and alcohol use were all found to have a negative effect on appearance.

如果你已经经历了，你可能不会感到惊讶。日前有研究称，离婚会让人的容颜变老。

研究人员发现，婚姻破裂会对人的外貌造成很大影响。

为确定人生中的某些经历是否会影响衰老进程，研究人员对同卵双生的双胞胎进行了研究，这些双胞胎在基因的设定下衰老速度完全一样。

研究负责人巴哈曼•古尤伦教授说：“遗传可能是决定一个人如何变老的基本因素，但如果在人生中加入某些因素，那么肯定会加速衰老，同样，如果避免这些因素，那么则会减缓衰老。”

古尤伦教授及其同事对186对双胞胎进行了问卷调查和数码拍照。

之后，一个独立评审小组浏览了这些照片，并根据照片判断这些双胞胎外表上的年龄差异。

结果显示，一对双胞胎中的离婚者比已婚、单身或守寡者看起来要老两岁。

研究同时发现，服用抗抑郁药物或体重超标的人衰老速度也较快。

据称，抗抑郁药物能够使面部肌肉松弛，所以长期服用者肌肉容易下垂。

该研究由美国西储大学开展，研究结果已在《整形和修复外科医学期刊》上发表。

研究发现，日晒、吸烟和酗酒都会对外表造成不良影响。

Vocabulary:

sag:to sink, droop, or settle from pressure or weight（下垂；松懈）