Simon Cowell will live for another 40 years and will die at the age of 95, the UK's X Factor boss said so himself. This was after undergoing DNA test in Los Angeles that could predict human life expectancy.
Cowell told Mirror that he will live until 2055 even if he is smoking 20 cigarettes a day. He could say this because he is backed up by the scientists who performed some DNA tests to him.
"I had the DNA test done in LA which predicts when you're going to die. They take your blood and DNA, then give you back a sheet of paper which says 'We think you're going to be alive until xxxx'," Cowell told Mirror.
However, Cowell said that the testing could oviously not take into the equation the possibility of him involving in fatal accident, like being hit by a bus. Nevertheless, being told that he will live until aged 95 "is about as good as you can expect," Cowell said.
Cowell is talking about DNA tests where scientists perform check up of the "telomeres." According to Telomere Health, Telomeres are an essential part of human cells that affect on how human cells age. Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect human chromosomes, like the plastic caps at the end of shoelaces, as explained in Telomere Health's FAQ.
Telomere testing to predict life expectancy was introduced in 2003 by scientists from the University of Utah led by Dr. Richard Cawthorn. Speaking with the Daily Mail at the time, Cawthorn explained that telomere length is predictive of survival in humans. "It supports the hypothesis that telomere shortening is a fundamental process of ageing, contributing to mortality from multiple age-related diseases," he said. "It may be possible to extend the duration of healthy adult life using medical interventions that maintain telomere length," he said further.
Telomeres aside, Cowell has his appointment with doctors twice a year. He said knowing that he is perfectly healthy, make him actually feel better. He said the mind plays a big part of him feeling great and healthy. "I remember one of the doctors almost being disappointed when he showed me the results because he couldn't wait to tell me what smoking was doing to me. But there was nothing there," Cowell marveled.
Cowell thinks that having his 19-month-old son, Eric, is the most significant factor why he is very much healthy in mind and in body. Having his son taught him to deal with stress much better now than before. With Eric now in his life, "things don't bother me in the way that they once used to," he said.