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 Research & Giving News Article  Numerous studies have demonstrated links between chronic stress and poor health – including an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease and compromised immune function – but the mechanism through which this occurs is not well understood. Dr. Epel and Dr. Blackburn have investigated the impact of stress on the cellular level. Their findings indicate that chronic stress significantly accelerates the rate at which cells age. Bruce McEwan, Ph.D., director of the neuroendocrinology laboratory at Rockefeller University (and NARSAD Scientific Council member and 1998 Distinguished Investigator), commented that “this is a new and significant finding.” He went on to say that this research offers some of the clearest evidence to date “of the price in wear and tear on the tissues that everybody pays during a stressful life.” In the experiment, the research team analyzed blood samples from 58 mothers, age 20 – 50, who had either a healthy child or a chronically ill or disabled child under their care. Dr. Epel and Dr. Blackburn focused on measuring the cells’ telomeres, which are DNA-protein complexes found on the end of each cell’s chromosomes. A cell reproduces itself repeatedly throughout its lifespan, however with each replication, the telomeres get shorter. The chemical telomerase helps to minimize the reduction in telomere length. Eventually, however, the telomeres become so short that the cell can no longer replicate itself; telomere length, therefore, offers a rough measure of a cell’s age and robustness. The research team corrected for the effects of age, and found that typically, the longer women had cared for disabled children, the shorter their telomere length and the lower their telomerase activity. The women in the study were also asked to fill out a questionnaire to evaluate their stress level. Although the average perceived stress was higher in the mothers of disabled children, in some cases these women – who objectively seemed to be under heavy stress – did not perceive their lives as especially stressful. “Some of the women who had a lot of objective, real stress also had a low perceived amount of stress, and the next step is trying to understand what it is that promotes this kind of resilience,” said Dr. Epel. It was the women who perceived chronic, heavy stress that had significantly shortened telomeres. Women with the highest levels of perceived stress had telomeres that measured an average of at least a decade older than women who felt that their lives were low in stress. |
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