Actor Ko So-young, 54, shocked by biological age of 58.3: 'I've lived like a high school senior for 20 years — early stage of burnout'

Actor Ko So-young, 54, was left shaken after learning her biological age is significantly higher than her actual age.

Ko's YouTube channel posted a video Wednesday titled "Ko So-young's ultimate slow-aging secrets guaranteed to make you look younger."

In the video, Ko visits a hospital and consults with a family medicine specialist to review her test results.

The results showed her biological age to be 58.3 — some 5.3 years older than her actual age of 53 at the time of the examination.

"It was such a shock," Ko said. "I took off my clothes and checked whether my body had aged. That made me depressed all over again."

The doctor told Ko that her hormone balance had come out particularly poor. "Ko So-young has been exercising extreme self-control for a very long time as a top star," the doctor said. "If you told someone to live like a high school senior preparing for college entrance exams for 20 years, no one could do it — but she did." The doctor described her condition as "the early stage of burnout."

Ko recalled that a psychiatrist she had previously consulted gave her a similar assessment — that she was "an idol who is utterly worn out, someone who wants to work hard but has no energy left to do so" — and said she was struck by how closely the two diagnoses aligned.

The doctor identified the root cause of her physical aging, saying Ko's problem was that "she works too hard and expends too much mental energy. People who cannot easily relieve stress suffer a collapse in hormonal balance." The doctor added that hormones affect metabolism, immunity and inflammation control.

The doctor went on to say that "even having a healthy glass of wine to relieve stress — in a case like Ko So-young's — counts as an anti-aging activity."