According to a new study, face gives string hints of how quickly a person is aging. A Chinese research team reported in the March 31 issue of the journal Cell Research that reliability of facial features can be trusted more than blood tests to determine who is aging more rapidly. Facial scanning is a more effective way to assess a person's general health than a routine physical exam.

Estimating life expectancy and assessing health risk factors simply by taking a scan of your face is a cutting-edge technology, said Jay Olshansky, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Public Health and a board member of the American Federation for Aging Research.

Olshansky said your risk of developing a disease is greatly showed by your face. You can look for precise places on the face where risk factors show up.

He said it's just not worth to use blood chemistry to determine the pace at which one is aging and the risk of the person to develop diseases. A combination of facial analytics and asking the right questions are more than enough to ascertain these risks.

During the study, 3-D facial images of 332 people of Chinese descent between the ages of 17 and 77 were collected by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"In aging science, we know people who look young for their age are aging more slowly. They look younger because they probably are younger. One year of clock time is matched by something less than one year of biological time. It's real. We can see it", said Olshansky.

The distance between the nose and the mouth increases with age and lips also begin to shrink. Researchers are making efforts to understand how aging of the face is affected by diabetes, obesity, drug use and other detrimental personal behaviors.