Too Much Stress May Give Genes Gray Hair | NYT | 11.30.04
Now a team of researchers has found that severe emotional distress - like that caused by divorce, the loss of a job, or caring for an ill child or parent - may speed up the aging of the body’s cells at the genetic level.
Study Is First to Confirm That Stress Speeds Aging | WP | 11.30.04
Scientists have identified the first direct link between stress and aging, a finding that could explain why intense, long-term emotional strain can make people get sick and grow old before their time.
Chronic stress appears to hasten the shriveling of the tips of the bundles of genes inside cells, which shortens their life span and speeds the body’s deterioration, according to a small, first-of-its-kind study involving mothers caring for chronically ill children. …
UCSF-led study suggests link between psychological stress and cell aging | UCSF Press Release | 11.29.04
Increasing scientific evidence suggests that prolonged psychological stress takes its toll on the body, but the exact mechanisms by which stress influences disease processes have remained elusive. Now, scientists report that psychological stress may exact its toll, at least in part, by affecting molecules believed to play a key role in cellular aging and, possibly, disease development. …
“Numerous studies have solidly demonstrated a link between chronic psychological stress and indices of impaired health, including cardiovascular disease and weakened immune function,” says lead author Elissa Epel, PhD, UCSF assistant professor of psychiatry. “The new findings suggest a cellular mechanism for how chronic stress may cause premature onset of disease. Anecdotal evidence and scientific evidence has have suggested that chronic stress can take years off your life; the implications of this study are that this is true at the cellular level. Chronic stress appears to have the potential to shorten the life of cells, at least immune cells.”
Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress | PNAS | 12.1.04
Numerous studies demonstrate links between chronic stress and indices of poor health, including risk factors for cardiovascular disease and poorer immune function. …
Here we provide evidence that psychological stress–both perceived stress and chronicity of stress–is significantly associated with higher oxidative stress, lower telomerase activity, and shorter telomere length, which are known determinants of cell senescence and longevity, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy premenopausal women. …
Chromosome | Wikipedia
- Chromatid. One of the two identical parts of the chromosome after S phase.
- Centromere. The point where the two chromatids touch, and where the microtubules attach.
- Short arm.
- Long arm.
The ends of the chromosomes are special structures called telomeres.
Telomere, go figure—are you feeling a little short in the telomere today? And, stress doesn’t cause a short temper—it causes a short telomere…