Looking at stress in the body's cells
"Chill." That's one word of advice. But sometimes the simplest advice is the best. Some folks will improve their health outlook immeasurably if they can — magically — kick the stress out of their lives.
UCLA scientists have found that the stress hormone cortisol limits the ability of immune cells to activate the hormone telomerase. That hormone keeps cells "young," restoring the cells' telomeres, which are tiny "clocks" within cells. Telomerase preserves the length and ability to reproduce of telomeres, which are the caps at the end of chromosomes. Each time the cell divides the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, your cells can't reproduce and they die. That's natural aging. Those shortened telomeres have been linked to many diseases such as heart disease and osteoporosis.
Your cells respond to long-term as well as short-term stress. In the short term, the body produces cortisol. But as the stress lingers, the presence of extra cortisol wears down the immune system. You can't fight forever. This hormonal effect explains the effect of chronic stress on, for instance, people who bear the burden of caring for a sick relative for months and years. These folks often become sick themselves.
Scientists have voiced the hope that this research will help them tailor the best drugs to maintain the telomeres and help the body fight stress. I hope that docs will remembers to talk first about lifestyle changes to reduce stress before they resort to new, tailored stress- reducing and who-knows-what-side-effects-inducing drugs. The single-molecule/single- outcome drug-study way of doing things has proven itself fraught with too many adverse consequences that don't reveal themselves until well after a drug hits the public.
While we're at it — maybe the medical community should chill.
