How long are we going to live? This is a frequently asked question with very vague and few answers. Whether it applies to ourselves, our loved ones, or our pets, humans have always wondered how much time is left. Dr. James S. Adelman and others conducted a study on Eurasian Blackbirds (Turdus merula). They studied stress on biological aging. The biomarkers they used were: telomere shortening, oxidative stress, glucocorticoid hormone levels, body mass, and ease of movement. Immune and disturbance stressors effected the experimental T. merula group for one year.
The researchers concluded that the experimental group of bird experienced shorter telomeres, and higher levels of oxidative damage when compared to the control group. The oxidative damage refers to the harm that oxygen radicals do to lipids, DNA, and proteins that the cells need in order to function. Shorter telomeres indicate less time before DNA replication will destroy important genetic information. These were the only significant differences between the two groups. It is clear that excessive stress can negatively effect your body. It causes greater wear upon the tissues and DNA.
Despite the age given to us by the number of years we've lived on this planet, humans may be much older or younger than they appear. Stress can exceptionally shorten the lives of people and animals. Over working ourselves, starving our cells of good nutrients, putting pressure on our hearts, and many more stress related behaviors are drastically decreasing our cellular ages. Perhaps it's time to take a look at the stress levels in your life.
Reference: James S. Adelman, Michaela Hau, Mark F. Haussmann, Timothy J. Greives, Christa Matlack, David Costantini, Michael Quetting, Ana C. Miranda, and Jesko Partecke. "Repeated stressors in adulthood increase the rate of biological ageing" Frontiers in Zoology 12 (2015): 1-10.
Stress can clearly have a huge negative impact on many individuals’ lives. Your post made me wonder about who gets stressed the most and what causes the most stress. If we can know this than maybe we could be more proactive in guarding against stress in or lives. I did some digging and found that based on the Stress in America survey done by the American Psychological Association, on average, young adults report being at above healthy levels of stress. In general, women report more stress than men and millennials tend to report being the most effected by stress. The top stressors were anxiety over money, the economy, family responsibilities, and personal health concerns. Finding an effective way to deal with these stressors may increase the health and overall lifespan of individuals.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2014/highlights.aspx