The results of the study which involved 58 women, ages 20 to 50, all of whom were mothers of either a chronically ill child or a healthy child, revealed that stress accelerated cellular aging. The most critical component of stress in the care-giving process was the duration. The more years of care giving, the shorter the length of the telomeres, the lower the telomerase activity, and the greater the oxidative stress. Telomerase is an enzyme that provides stability to chromosomes in the body.

Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School discovered that stress from mood disorders like depression and anxiety are associated with accelerated aging. The study looked at 44 individuals with chronic mood disorders and discovered that they all showed signs of accelerated telomere shortening. The researchers noted that accelerated telomere shortening may reflect stress-related oxidative damage to cells and accelerated aging, and that severe psychosocial stress is strongly associated with telomere shortening.

Another manner in which stress causes premature aging is by the way that is slows wound healing. Scientists have known for some time that stress causes wounds to heal more slowly. Researchers in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Ohio State University found the hormones produced from psychological stress inhibit wound healing by slowing the body’s natural healing processes.104 Stress hormones slow the delivery of cytokines to the site of the injury, which slows the healing process. Cytokines are the chemicals produced by cells to heal injuries and fight off infections.

Negative emotions contribute to delayed wound healing and prolonged infection. A study at the Department of Psychiatry The Ohio State University discovered that negative emotions actually fuel sustained proinflammatory cytokine production, which in turn slows wound healing.106 Accordingly, stress-related immune dysregulation is the core mechanism behind a large and diverse set of health risks associated with negative emotions.

Marital stress has been shown to slow wound healing. In a study of 42 couples married at least 12 years, researchers learned that the stress a typical married couple feels during an ordinary half-hour argument is enough to slow their bodies’ ability to heal from wounds by at least one day.106 If the couple’s relationship is routinely hostile or abusive, the delay in healing can be doubled. Blood samples taken from highly hostile couples showed comprised immune systems. This indicates an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, type-2 diabetes, cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, and periodontal disease.

References
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