In the presentation titled “Emotions Stress and Rate of Telomere Shortening: Are Our Cells Listening to Us?” Dr. Elissa Epel from the University of California (UCTV) department of psychiatry shows that stress speeds up the aging process at a genetic level. She chose to use caregivers in this case mothers with children suffering from a chronic condition in her study because they are prone to stress in their work. She focuses on how cell aging specifically on stress, thoughts and lifestyle in addition to addressing gene expression and restoring resiliency. Her major assertion is that when cells divide some telomeres (caps at the end of the chromosomes) is lost but if it becomes too short, that cell can no longer replicate and it eventually dies but she also offers some suggestions on the ways of countering the effects of the shortened telomeres.
She begins by defining stress as coming from physiological responses (insulin and cortisol), as well as psychological stress. She dwells on the cellular responses to stress. In this case she defines telomeres as the DNA-based caps at the ends of chromosomes from the bad things such as free radicals from damaging the cells. Once damaged, the cells become senescent and this contributes to tissue and bodily aging making the body vulnerable to chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis, myocardial infarction, and rheumatoid arthritis. Lengthy telomeres are an indicator of a long life without disease.
Epel noted that caregivers who had cared for people with chronic conditions for long many years had shorter telomeres and hence were prone to faster aging and chronic diseases. Dr Epel states that research concluded that the individuals with the highest stress record the shortest telomeres. Those who have been exposed to stress as children have the highest reductions in telomeres and hence ages fast because of the poor cell regeneration through to adulthood and old age although healthy lifestyles may help to slow the aging process. The telomeres are critical in controlling the regeneration or the replacement of cells in the body since cells must die and get replaced in a natural process. She notes that stress also exposed other animals such as chicken to more cortisol and insulin as well as shorter telomeres and hence faster aging.
The effects of poor regeneration of body cells combined with the production of cortisol include poor immune responses, uncontrolled blood sugar, blood pressure, inflammations, development of heart conditions and also negative effects on the nervous system. These are the effects that lead to stress being associated with numerous health conditions such as blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular conditions and numerous others. People who worry more especially when they anticipate something also have shorter telomeres, have chronic stress and age faster. People who have self-conscious negative response and who consider themselves as lowly and have experienced some form of trauma, social rejection; actual or imagined have chronic stress and shorter telomeres. The brain is constantly looking out for threats to survival and when it is exposed to stress especially in the work and home environment, it responds by producing hormones to try and counter that effect but the overall impact of the hormones has a negative effect on the telomeres that control the regeneration of cells.
When someone suffers from chronic stress, the telomeres become too short, die or become damaged in a way that they become ineffective in replacing themselves. In addition, stress can also increase the rate or speed at which the telomeres shorten, get damaged and die. While the exact mechanism of how the mind is connected to the cells, they are clear that hormones produced when one is stressed have a largely shortening effect on the telomeres. Indeed, aging is a process that occurs naturally and the failure to have one’s cell live for long results in weaker bodies and eventually death. In addition to the effect of stress on the telomeres, stressed people also tend to eat poorly, take more alcohol and drugs, medication and also exercise less all of which have a negative effect on one’s health and contribute to faster aging. Dr Epel notes that trauma exposure, anxiety, chronic stress and depression all have the following in common; rumination or “overthinking” about life events and situations, great anticipation of threats, and chronic stress arousal. The combination of the above issues also leads to higher levels of cortisol and insulin leading to several adverse effects to the body as telomere shortening damages the mitochondria.
Dr. Epel offers some insights into the management of stress in order to escape the effects it has on aging. The first way is in the maintenance of a positive attitude. Researchers have shown in numerous studies that optimism has numerous health benefits and it leads to longer and happier lives. Since stressing conditions are bound to come in one’s way, the people who maintain a positive attitude tend to deal with stress better and have it gone after a short while compared to the pessimists and sadists. In this case, there is less production of the stress hormones which spares the telomeres of the shortening effects. The maintenance of a positive attitude is indeed a good way of motivating someone to engage in other beneficial health practices such as eating healthy, engaging in exercise and seeking medical attention regularly. All these have a combined effect of accelerating the aging process through poor regeneration or replacement of dead cells.
Dr Epel advises that exercise and getting enough sleep are great ways to reduce stress. The impact of exercise for more than 10 minutes each day is to block the effects of cortisol and actual stress and its aftermath such as free radicals on the aging process. In this case people in their sixties who have been exercising for most of their lives may have the same levels of stress as people who do engage in regular exercise who are in their thirties. Healthy eating habits with a diet rich in omega 3s and vitamins are a great way to counter the effects brought about by the shortening of the telomeres. However, it is a hard thing to accomplish because stress lowers appetite and other neutrally driven eating desires. As such, one ought to strive and eat healthy especially when they know that they are more prone to stress compared to other people.
References
Epel Elissa “Emotions Stress and Rate of Telomere Shortening: Are Our Cells Listening to Us?” Retrieved 25 July 2016 from https://youtu.be/NB_zt96UiUY
