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Some stressful events seem to turn a person's hair gray overnight.
Now a team of researchers has found that severe emotional distress - like that caused by divorce, the loss of a job, or caring for an ill child or parent - may speed up the aging of the body's cells at the genetic level.
The findings, being reported today, are the first to link psychological stress so directly to biological age.
The researchers found that blood cells from women who had spent many years caring for a disabled child were, genetically, about a decade older than those from peers who had much less caretaking experience. The study, which appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also suggests that the perception of being stressed can add years to a person's biological age.
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LOL - they are just finding this out. I could have told them that 2 years ago when my hair went grey after my divorce. Its like Columbus discovering America or me discovering my backyard.
Now a team of researchers has found that severe emotional distress - like that caused by divorce, the loss of a job, or caring for an ill child or parent - may speed up the aging of the body's cells at the genetic level.
The findings, being reported today, are the first to link psychological stress so directly to biological age.
The researchers found that blood cells from women who had spent many years caring for a disabled child were, genetically, about a decade older than those from peers who had much less caretaking experience. The study, which appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also suggests that the perception of being stressed can add years to a person's biological age.
Too Much Stress May Give Genes Gray Hair (Published 2004)
Dr Elissa Epel and Dr Elizabeth Blackburn of University of California at San Francisco lead research into impact of stress on human cells; research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that extreme stress can cause process of cell reproduction to have shorter...
www.nytimes.com
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LOL - they are just finding this out. I could have told them that 2 years ago when my hair went grey after my divorce. Its like Columbus discovering America or me discovering my backyard.
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