Smile now, smile later, smile often!

Warning: this is not an April Fool's joke: People with big smiles may live than those who don’t, according to a new study at Michigan’s Wayne State University. Dr. Oyangen has known for a long time that positive emotion has been linked to both physical and mental health, but researchers there used information from the Baseball Register to look at photos of 230 players who began their baseball careers before 1950.

The players' faces were enlarged, and a rating of their smile intensity was made by researchers (varied between big smile, no smile or partial smile). The players' smile ratings were compared with data from deaths that occurred from 2006 through the end of 2009. The researchers took into account in their analysis to consider other factors associated with life longevity, such as body mass index, or BMI, career length and, believe it or not, college attendance.

The results? The researchers found that players who weren't smiling died at the average age of 72.9 years. Players with partial smiles lived to be 75. Those with big smiles, however, lived on average to be 79.9 years old.

Our staff's take-away from the new study? Smile now, smile often and you might just live longer! Have you perfected your smile by visiting Dr. Oyangen lately? If not, give our team a call at 518-831-9677! We look forward to hearing from you!