|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Aging News & Information
Wear and Tear of Stress and Disease Really
Determines Age
Healthy 100 year olds cope by acceptance, not
worrying and taking one day at a time
 August 11, 2006 - Age may be more related to
reactions to stress and the absence of disease rather than to a person's
chronological age, say researchers. And healthy aging is a good bet, if
stress can be moderated along with adopting an active, healthy
 lifestyle, according to researchers who looked at centenarians. This
finding will be presented at the 114th Annual Convention of the American
Psychological Association (APA).
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Hope I die before I get old? Wrong Idea!
Attitudes about aging contradict reality - people become happier over
time
June 13, 2006 - Back when he was 20 years old in
1965, rock star Pete Townshend wrote the line "I hope I die before I get
old" into a song, "My Generation" that launched his band, the Who, onto
the rock 'n' roll scene. But a unique new study suggests that Townshend
may have fallen victim to a common, and mistaken, belief: That the
happiest days of people's lives occur when they're young.
Read more...
Women Age Faster but Live Longer - Is Testosterone
the Cause?
Males allocate resources to intrasexual and intersexual competition
June 5, 2006 - It has been widely assumed that men
age earlier than women, as evidenced by their higher mortality rates and
shorter average life spans. But three Northern Michigan University
biology professors contend that the opposite is true.
Read more...
How Do Seniors Define Successful Aging?
Older adults perspectives on healthy aging surprises
many
Jan. 18, 2006 - Understanding how older adults
define successful aging is a critical component to the well-being and
quality of life for this burgeoning population.
Read more...
Senior Citizens Enjoying Health, Life Much Longer
than Expected
Most common health problems reported were poor
vision, hearing loss and mood
Dec. 28, 2005 - Older Americans enjoy good health
for a longer period than previously realized, and many factors that
compromise health in the elderly can be modified to maintain their
health, according to recent findings from a large multi-university study
led by Duke University Medical Center.
Read more...
Experts Find Keys to Healthy Brains for Aging
Americans
National Institutes of Health moves forward on
"healthy brain" project
Feb. 21, 2006 – A panel of experts seeking ways aging Americans can keep
their brains healthy, has zeroed in on education, cardiovascular health,
physical activity, psychosocial factors and genetics as key factors
associated with brain health as people age.
Read more...
Senior Citizens Do Shrink – Just One of the Body
Changes of Aging
Shrinking height, pot belly, pencil legs - it can be
prevented
Nov. 28, 2005 - As we age, we experience decreases
in everything from hair and hearing to memory and muscle. Height is also
on the list. Starting at about age 40, people typically lose about half
an inch each decade, with some faster shrinkage after age 70. Senior
citizens may shrink as much as three inches.
Read more...
Most Senior Citizens Experience Loneliness, Say
Researchers
Nov. 21, 2005 - As the holidays approach, loneliness
becomes the spirit of Christmas present for all too many older people.
Nearly 60 percent of more than 500 senior citizens age 70 or older in
this study experience some form of loneliness, according to University
of Michigan researchers.
Read more...
Simple Test for Seniors, Boomers to Rate Risk of
Dying in Four Years
Researches say all 50
or over can do it by answering just 12 questions
Feb. 16, 2006 -
Read more...
What do you know about aging?
Click Here
Read more
Aging News & Information |
|
From a review of studies on how stress hormones
affect the brain, psychologist Bruce McEwen, PhD, of the Laboratory of
Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University, finds more evidence
that biological and behavioral stress responses can be adaptive in the
aftermath of stress, but can also cause damage when they are over - or
under - produced and go on for a long time.
"Acute stress seems to enhance immune function and
improves memory but chronic stress has the opposite effect and can lead
to disorders like depression, diabetes and cognitive impairment in
aging," said Dr. McEwen.
Cumulative stress effects, said McEwen, are showing
up in people who are under constant stress, like those in caregiver
situations or those who suffer from obesity and/or diabetes. These
people are more likely to have decreased telomerase activity.
Telomeres are enzymes that regulate how many times
an individual cell can divide. Telomeric sequences shorten each time the
DNA replicates, which is a process that happens prior to cells dividing.
When at least some of the telomeres reach a critically short length, the
cell stops dividing and ages (senesces) which may cause or contribute to
some age-related diseases.
| |
Neurobiology?
Psychoneuroendocrinology? |
|
| |
The experts in this story are in the fields
of neurobiology and psychoneuroendocrinology. Neurobiology
is the study of cells of the nervous system and the organization
of these cells into functional circuits that process information
and mediate behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology is the
clinical study of hormone fluctuations and their relationship to
human behavior. It may be viewed from the perspective of
psychiatry, where in certain mood disorders, there are
associated neuroendocrine or hormonal changes. It may also be
viewed from the perspective of endocrinology, where certain
endocrine disorders can be associated with psychiatric illness.
It is the blend of psychiatry and endocrinology.(Definitions
from
Wikipedia.com.) |
|
There is also more evidence that the brain is more
involved in a person's stress response than previously thought, said
McEwen. The brain interprets what is threatening, i.e., what is
stressful (whether it be public speaking or perceptions of social
status) and then regulates the behavioral and physiological responses
through the autonomic, immune and neuroendocrine systems.
If the brain is under too much stress for too long,
said McEwen, "we can see structural and functional remodeling changes
that affect how it functions."
"These brain changes, which appear to be
reversible, are able to change by not only pharmaceutical agents but
also by lifestyle changes like exercise, diet and social support," said
McEwen.
How stress and disease define your age
In another review of the current literature on the
interactions of the brain, stress and the endocrine system, more
evidence shows how cumulative stress and the occurrence of disease may
define age more than chronological aging.
According to the review, certain diseases start to
occur when the anabolic hormone levels start to decrease – when the
tissue builders like growth hormones, testosterone, estrogen and thyroid
functions start to drop off and when the catabolic hormones start to
increase.
These hormones, the tissue fuelers, can become too
active and actually break the body down. Cortisol – a stress hormone –
can become more reactive when responding to acute challenges as one gets
older.
This imbalance between the anabolic and catabolic
hormones is likely to be responsible for many of the psychiatric and
medical diseases associated with aging, said researcher Elissa S. Epel,
PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco.
According to a model of neuroendocrine aging,
"subtle yet chronic changes in hormonal patterns can exert pathological
effects on health over time."
It is also known, said Epel, that chronically
elevated cortisol reduces lean mass, bone density and shifts fat
distributions that can precede the onset of many age-related diseases
like osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and major
depression. But, she added, certain behavioral factors, like lifestyle
and exercise can modify some of these hormonal effects that seem to
accelerate aging.
Compared to healthy older adults under 100 years of
age, healthy centenarians, said Epel, tend to show slower insulin and
glucose rates when fasting, have higher or similar thyroid hormones and
have similar cortisol and growth hormone levels.
Even though older adults are exposed to more
chronic stressors (more health problems, fewer social connections), they
do not necessarily experience greater daily stress. The authors believe
that the healthy centenarians are using coping techniques such as
finding meaning in activities and strengthening meaningful social ties
to help moderate chronic stress.
Centenarians also report using three coping
strategies to deal with their health problems:
● acceptance,
● not worrying and
● taking things one day at a time.
Those older adults who do not employ these types of
strategies, said Epel, may become more vulnerable to stress over time.
Many of the neuroendocrine changes that occur with
aging are not inevitable, said Epel, and "this is demonstrated by
healthy centenarians. Certain age-related changes can be modified with
physical activity, sufficient sleep and good coping techniques.
"It is when chronic stress, inactivity and added
body weight take hold that the neuroendocrine system becomes off
balance. This imbalance between the anabolic and catabolic hormones now
appears to be the most common profile of aging and may be a valuable
marker for biological aging."
Notes:
The
American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the
largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology
in the United States and is the world's largest association of
psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers,
educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions
in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state,
territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance
psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting
health, education and human welfare.
Presentation: "Neurobiology of Stress:
Implications for Behavioral Medicine," Bruce McEwen, PhD, Laboratory of
Neuroendocrinology, The Rockerfeller University, Session 2115 - Invited
Address: Annual Neal Miller Lecture,10:00 – 10:50 AM, Friday, August 11,
Morial Convention Center, Third Level, Meeting Room 339
Presentation: "Role of Biostress Markers in
Optimal Aging," Elissa S. Epel, PhD, University of California, San
Francisco, Session 3065 - Invited Address, 9:00 – 9:50 AM, Saturday,
August 12, Morial Convention Center, Second Level, Meeting Room 281
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
