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A study done by researchers at the University of Michigan show that some oxidative stress at a young age can actually lead to a longer life. Oxidative stress occurs when cells produce more oxidants than they can deal with. Studying C. elegans, researchers were able to determine that worms that produced more oxidants during development lived longer than worms that did not produce as much oxidants during development. Of course, there are other factors that can aslo determine ones life expectancy. Genetics and enviornment are two factors that can affect lifespan. If your parents live a long life, the offspring will have a good chance of living a long life as well. Experiencing stress at a young age may make you better in fighting stress later on in life when you encounter it again. Since stress and age-related diseases are closely connected, scientists are looking into whether early exposure to stress in life have an affect on the predisposition for age-related diseases. Some of these diseases include Alzheimer's and dementia. In a next study, researchers want to look at what changes during development in worms that experience stress at a young age make them have a longer life expectancy.