The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) issued the following news
release:
Healthy Lifestyle May Buffer Against Stress-Related Cell Aging
UC San Francisco Study Suggests Healthy Diet, Sleep and Exercise Can
Mitigate Negative Impacts of Stress
A new study from UC San Francisco is the first to show that while the impact
of life's stressors accumulate overtime and accelerate cellular aging, these
negative effects may be reduced by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising
and sleeping well.
"The study participants who exercised, slept well and ate well had less
telomere shortening than the ones who didn't maintain healthy lifestyles,
even when they had similar levels of stress," said lead author Eli Puterman,
PhD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at UCSF.
"It's very important that we promote healthy living, especially under
circumstances of typical experiences of life stressors like death,
caregiving and job loss."
The paper will be published in Molecular Psychiatry, a peer-reviewed science
journal by Nature Publishing Group.
Telomeres are the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that affect how
quickly cells age.
They are combinations of DNA and proteins that protect the ends of
chromosomes and help them remain stable. As they become shorter, and as
their structural integrity weakens, the cells age and die quicker. Telomeres
also get shorter with age.
In the study, researchers examined three healthy behaviors -physical
activity, dietary intake and sleep quality - over the course of one year in
239 post-menopausal, non-smoking women.
The women provided blood samples at the beginning and end of the year for
telomere measurement and reported on stressful events that occurred during
those 12 months.
In women who engaged in lower levels of healthy behaviors, there was a
significantly greater decline in telomere length in their immune cells for
every major life stressor that occurred during the year.
Yet women who maintained active lifestyles, healthy diets, and good quality
sleep appeared protected when exposed to stress - accumulated life stressors
did not appear to lead to greater shortening.
"This is the first study that supports the idea, at least observationally,
that stressful events can accelerate immune cell aging in adults, even in
the short period of one year.
Exciting, though, is that these results further suggest that keeping active,
and eating and sleeping well during periods of high stress are particularly
important to attenuate the accelerated aging of our immune cells," said
Puterman.
In recent years, shorter telomeres have become associated with a broad range
of aging-related diseases, including stroke, vascular dementia,
cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis diabetes, and many forms of
cancer.
Research on telomeres, and the enzyme that makes them, telomerase, was
pioneered by three Americans, including UCSF molecular biologist and
co-author Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD. Blackburn co-discovered the telomerase
enzyme in 1985. The scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 2009 for their work.
"These new results are exciting yet observational at this point. They do
provide the impetus to move forward with interventions to modify lifestyle
in those experiencing a lot of stress, to test whether telomere attrition
can truly be slowed," said Blackburn.
Co-authors include senior author Elissa Epel, PhD, department of psychiatry,
Jue Lin, PhD, department of biochemistry and biophysics, both of UCSF and
Jeffrey Krauss, MD, division of physical medicine and rehabilitation at
Stanford University.
Healthy Lifestyle May Buffer Against Stress-Related Cell Aging
UC San Francisco Study Suggests Healthy Diet, Sleep and Exercise Can
Mitigate Negative Impacts of Stress
A new study from UC San Francisco is the first to show that while the impact
of life's stressors accumulate overtime and accelerate cellular aging, these
negative effects may be reduced by maintaining a healthy diet, exercising
and sleeping well.
"The study participants who exercised, slept well and ate well had less
telomere shortening than the ones who didn't maintain healthy lifestyles,
even when they had similar levels of stress," said lead author Eli Puterman,
PhD, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at UCSF.
"It's very important that we promote healthy living, especially under
circumstances of typical experiences of life stressors like death,
caregiving and job loss."
The paper will be published in Molecular Psychiatry, a peer-reviewed science
journal by Nature Publishing Group.
Telomeres are the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that affect how
quickly cells age.
They are combinations of DNA and proteins that protect the ends of
chromosomes and help them remain stable. As they become shorter, and as
their structural integrity weakens, the cells age and die quicker. Telomeres
also get shorter with age.
In the study, researchers examined three healthy behaviors -physical
activity, dietary intake and sleep quality - over the course of one year in
239 post-menopausal, non-smoking women.
The women provided blood samples at the beginning and end of the year for
telomere measurement and reported on stressful events that occurred during
those 12 months.
In women who engaged in lower levels of healthy behaviors, there was a
significantly greater decline in telomere length in their immune cells for
every major life stressor that occurred during the year.
Yet women who maintained active lifestyles, healthy diets, and good quality
sleep appeared protected when exposed to stress - accumulated life stressors
did not appear to lead to greater shortening.
"This is the first study that supports the idea, at least observationally,
that stressful events can accelerate immune cell aging in adults, even in
the short period of one year.
Exciting, though, is that these results further suggest that keeping active,
and eating and sleeping well during periods of high stress are particularly
important to attenuate the accelerated aging of our immune cells," said
Puterman.
In recent years, shorter telomeres have become associated with a broad range
of aging-related diseases, including stroke, vascular dementia,
cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis diabetes, and many forms of
cancer.
Research on telomeres, and the enzyme that makes them, telomerase, was
pioneered by three Americans, including UCSF molecular biologist and
co-author Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD. Blackburn co-discovered the telomerase
enzyme in 1985. The scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 2009 for their work.
"These new results are exciting yet observational at this point. They do
provide the impetus to move forward with interventions to modify lifestyle
in those experiencing a lot of stress, to test whether telomere attrition
can truly be slowed," said Blackburn.
Co-authors include senior author Elissa Epel, PhD, department of psychiatry,
Jue Lin, PhD, department of biochemistry and biophysics, both of UCSF and
Jeffrey Krauss, MD, division of physical medicine and rehabilitation at
Stanford University.
Reposted by:
Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D.
Licensed Psychologist
Charles R. Davenport, Psy.D. LLC.
Offices Sarasota and Venice
941-321-1971
www.drcharlesdavenport.com
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