The more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early, a study says. It may be because boredom causes you to stop exercising and eat donuts. Or it may just be that it sucks to be bored.

According to the Associated Press, the researchers analyzed over 7500 interviews, from 1985 to 1988, with British civil servants aged between 35 and 55, that asked whether they'd felt bored at work. They then looked at who had died by April last year. They found that those who said they were very bored were two-and-a-half times more likely to have died of a heart condition than those who reported no boredom.

Because they're 'scientists', the researchers, Annie Britton and Martin Shipley from University College London, point out that this may not be a direct link, and that when they adjusted for other factors, like physical activity and employment grade, the effect was reduced. But still, boredom kills.

Other experts suggested that boredom might be linked with depression, itself a risk factor, and that it is a device used to suppress anger, which raises blood pressure. They also warned that, when bored, "dangerous hormones are released in the body that stress the heart."

So if you have read this and been entertained, we have probably saved your life. You're welcome.