After 80 years of research, the key factor that "playing mahjong can extend life" has been found, and it turns out to be...

Editor: Sunny Morning

Many people love playing mahjong, especially elderly parents, who play for hours every day, regardless of winning or losing, and feel very happy. Friends and relatives are worried about your health, and they often advise you to play less, as it is not good for your health, and to exercise more. However, a recent study published by Harvard University has overturned our cognition: playing mahjong can prolong your life !

According to reports, researchers at Harvard University published the results of an 80-year study in a book titled "The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness": the researchers conducted an 80-year follow-up survey on young people, from health checks, interviews to psychological tests, to gain an in-depth understanding of personal life, family communities and cities where they live. The results showed that social relationships are the key factor in determining life span . Surprisingly, whether young, middle-aged or elderly, playing mahjong can help prolong life .

Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, pointed out: " Chronic loneliness can increase the annual mortality rate by 26% ." That is to say, when you feel lonely or lonely, you are actually having a negative physiological impact on your body. For the elderly, the impact of loneliness on health is even twice as much as obesity .

Playing mahjong solves the problem of loneliness and allows you to have plenty of social interaction. Rich social relationships are like a feast of hormones. For example, the oxytocin and endorphins secreted in social relationships can make the body more resistant to stress and have anti-inflammatory effects . Both mentally and physically, social relationships will make you healthier!

In addition to building social connections

There are several benefits of playing mahjong: "massage" the brain . When playing mahjong, the action of touching the cards can "massage" the brain, expand the blood flow area of ​​the brain, promote blood circulation, and help the brain become active.

Cognitive stimulation . Playing mahjong requires the use of cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, logical reasoning, and strategic planning. This cognitive stimulation can help keep the brain active and help prevent cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

Hand-eye coordination . When playing mahjong, players need to quickly and accurately touch, play, and move tiles, which helps to exercise hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and promote neuromuscular coordination.

Reduce stress . Playing mahjong is a recreational and relaxing activity that can help reduce stress and anxiety. Long-term stress and anxiety have a negative impact on physical health, and relaxing through activities such as playing mahjong can improve mental health, which can help increase life expectancy.

Although playing mahjong can bring many benefits, we must also pay attention to moderation and balance. Excessive addiction and unreasonable time arrangement may cause harm to the individual's body. In December 2021, a senior mahjong player in Fuzhou often played mahjong all night, and felt soreness in his right shoulder from time to time. The pain was more obvious when he stretched out his hand to grab cards while playing mahjong. After examination at the hospital, it turned out to be " shoulder impingement syndrome ." The cause of shoulder impingement syndrome is that when patients play mahjong on weekdays, they often need to stretch out their hands to grab cards and play cards. If the acromion itself develops into a hook shape, and the shoulders are repeatedly raised and rotated internally and externally, it may lead to rupture of the tendons in the shoulder over time.

Also, when playing mahjong, you are emotionally excited, adrenaline secretion increases, and the body produces a series of reactions : increased heart contraction, increased blood pressure, mental concentration, increased oxygen consumption... Many accidents at the table are caused by these changes in the body when the mind is overly excited. So how can we play mahjong healthily and happily?

Be sure to control the duration . Playing mahjong for a long time may put the brain in a state of tension, brain congestion, and blood circulation disorders in the body, resulting in dizziness, blurred vision, limb numbness and other discomfort symptoms. Sitting for a long time, the lumbar sacral region is burdened, the hip muscles and nerves are squeezed, and it is easy to cause lumbar muscle strain, lower limb venous thrombosis, etc. Elderly people with cervical spondylosis, hypertension, coronary heart disease, etc. should not play mahjong for a long time, otherwise it may induce acute stroke, myocardial infarction and other accidents.

Experts remind: Do not play mahjong continuously for more than 2 hours . It is best to stand up and move your limbs every half hour, kick your legs, shake your head, twist your waist, and stretch your arms.

Adjust your mindset . Don't get too excited when playing mahjong, don't care too much about winning or losing, play mahjong with the mindset of making friends. It is recommended to play in a well-ventilated and bright place indoors, and never sit in a draught or on the side of the road. When playing mahjong, put a pot of water next to the table, drink a cup every half an hour, and replenish water at any time to relieve physical fatigue. Avoid eye fatigue, close your eyes for 1 to 2 minutes between playing mahjong, and then slowly open them.

In addition to playing mahjong, there are many other sports, social and cognitive activities that can provide similar benefits. Everyone can choose the activities that suit them according to their interests and physical condition to promote health and increase life expectancy.

Square dancing . Square dancing is a very good social activity. It can mobilize the nerve functions of multiple areas in the brain at the same time and exercise hand-eye coordination. Studies have also found that dancing can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by up to 76%! In addition, dancing is also a good aerobic exercise. A moderate amount of aerobic exercise is very beneficial to human health.

Practice Tai Chi . Muscles, especially leg muscles, are vital for the elderly. Tai Chi not only strengthens leg muscles, but also provides opportunities for social interaction, making it a very suitable longevity exercise for middle-aged and elderly people.

In summary, social relationships are the key to determining longevity. Playing mahjong as a collective recreational activity helps to establish and maintain social connections, promote cognitive exercise, and improve mental health and well-being. If you are a person who doesn't like socializing, when you reach a certain age, you must start paying attention to the warning signs of increased risk of death!

A study published in the British Medical Journal showed that the worse the motor ability after the age of 65, the higher the risk of death, and signs of motor decline will appear 10 years before death . The researchers asked the participants to undergo three motor function assessments between 2007 and 2016, including walking speed, sitting and standing ability, grip strength, and self-measured difficulty in daily activities, such as dressing, going to the toilet, cooking and buying groceries.

The results showed that poor walking speed, sitting and standing ability, and poor grip strength increased the risk of death by 22%, 14%, and 15%, respectively, and difficulty in daily activities increased the risk of death by 30%. Moreover, this association becomes stronger with age .

Reference sources: Western Decision, Global Network, Life Times, etc.