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The findings could lead to new ways to detect the early physical effects of stress and monitor whether attempts to alleviate its effects are working, she said.While cautioning that the findings needed to be confirmed by additional research, other scientists said the results represent an unprecedented step in deciphering the intricacies of the mind-body connection.“This is a real landmark observation,” said Robert Sapol-sky of Stanford University, who wrote a commentary accompanying the paper in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “This is a huge interdisciplinary leap ... a great study.”Dennis Novack at Drexel University School of Medicine, who studies the link between emotions and health, agreed.“Everybody’s trying to figure out what causes aging and premature aging. We all know that stress seems to age people — just look at the aging of our presidents after four year's,” he said. The new study “demonstrated that there is no such thing as a separation of mind and body — the very molecules in our bodies are responsive to our psychological environment.”HOW THE STUDY WORKEDPsychiatrist Elissa Epel and her colleagues studied 39 women ages 20 to 50 who'had been experiencing*lt;’ grinding stress for years because they were caring for a child suffering from a.serious, chronic illness, such as autism or cerebral palsy, and 19 other similar women whose children were healthy.The researchers examined structures inside cells called telomeres. Telomeres are the caps at the ends of chromosomes, the molecules that carry genes; Every time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. In the natural aging process, the telomeres eventually get so short that cells no longer can divide, and they die.The researchers also measured levels of an enzyme called telom-erase, which helps rebuild telomeres-to stave off the dividing process. Te-lomerase levels naturally decline with age.“This is an inborn glitch in theway nature has arranged things, said Elizabeth Blackburn, a professor of biology and physiology at the Universi- ■ ty of California in San Francisco who helped conduct the study. It’s always a race, and over the long term we eventually lose the race and age.The researchers found that the• ilonger a woman had been caring for a sick child, the shorter her telomeres, the lower her levels of telom-erase, and the higher her levels of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a process in which molecules called free radicals in the body damage DNA, including telomeres.The greater a woman's perception of her stress in the study, the worse she scored on all these tests.—Compared wltlrwomen1 -witlrthe- low—est levels of perceived stress, women with the highest perceived stress had telomeres equivalent to someone who was 10 years older, the researchers found. *The findings indicate thaf'doctorscould monitor telomere length andtelomerase levels for signs that people under chronic stress are suffering adverse effects, Epel said.'' ‘• m ,
Newspaper Details
Colorado Springs Gazette
Colorado Springs, Colorado, US
Tue, Nov 30, 2004
Page 29
Full Page
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CA 29 May 2021
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