Question 104 of 433
How does chronic stress age the body?
The short answer
Chronic stress can affect sleep, behavior, autonomic activity, blood pressure, and inflammation. Hormone responses vary; stress does not keep everyone’s cortisol uniformly high.
Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn and psychologist Elissa Epel showed in The Telomere Effect that mothers caring for chronically ill children, those who felt the most stress, had the shortest telomeres. What mattered was not only the load itself. It was the feeling of being threatened by it with no relief.
I see this in the catheterization lab. People have heart attacks during divorces, lawsuits, and bereavement. There is even a condition, takotsubo or “broken heart syndrome,” where emotional or physical stress can precede temporary heart-muscle dysfunction. The mind is not separate from the body. It never was.
“This book is for education. It is not medical advice, and reading it does not make you my patient or create a doctor-patient relationship.” From the book’s medical disclaimer. Full disclaimer
OBSERVATIONAL / MECHANISTIC — Stress and health associations; telomere findings do not prove faster aging in an individual.Evidence grade (draft mapping)CObservationalPart 7, Q104 · Part sources
From Longevity Unmasked by Afshine Ash Emrani, MD, FACC. Medical disclaimer. This book is for education. It is not medical advice, and reading it does not make you my patient or create a doctor-patient relationship. Nothing here is meant to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Medicine is personal: a test, drug, supplement, or exercise plan that helps one person can harm another. Do not start, stop, or change any medication or treatment because of something you read in these pages. Talk with a licensed clinician who knows your history first. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 911. The author disclaims responsibility for any loss or harm arising from use of the information in this book.