Running for office can be hazardous to your health.

Excitement, power, stress and some very big decisions await the winners of the 2016 elections.

And, as a recently published study shows, so does a shorter life expectancy.

An analysis published in the medical journal BMJ found that presidents and prime ministers in 17 countries — including the United States, Britain, France and Canada — age faster and lose almost three years of life expectancy. Researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at nearly 280 presidential or parliamentary leaders, and almost as many runners-up, going back to the 1700s.

They found that those elected to lead a nation tend to live about three years fewer than candidates who also competed in but ultimately lost their political races.

The top-notch health care provided to most national leaders apparently isn’t enough to offset the factors that lead to a shorter lifespan. The study’s lead researcher called the loss of several years of lifespan significant, noting that most leaders are probably more focused more on pressing issues than a healthy lifestyle.

Urgent decisions to be made on everything from defense to education, health care and taxes can sap a leader’s energy, as well as time for relaxation and healthful habits. Yet the picture isn’t entirely gloomy: President Bill Clinton was a big fan of Big Macs during his years in the Oval Office. After leaving office, a quadruple heart bypass forced him to rethink all of that. Clinton lost weight to try to reverse his heart disease. So, in some ways, maybe the losers of this year’s presidential race are actually the long-term winners.