The mental health needs to be maintained to assure a physical health. It has been shown through various researches that chronic psychological stress, physical health, inappropriate social relations, being a caregiver of a chronically ill-child, unemployment and financial strains are highly associated with poor insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and other malady.
Over the recent decade, there has been increasing evidence depicting the devastating impact of chronic stress on our biochemistry. It is known to cause accelerating aging at a cellular level, due to “shortening telomeres”. Telomeres are protective closures at the ends of chromosomes. However, through cell division the length of telomeres is reduced. This decreases the protection to chromosomes. If the telomere constantly continues to shorten then the cell will no longer be able to divide. The cell will then enter into a senescence phase, which is the last stage before cell death. This is why, telomere length is considered critical, to the stable safeguard of our immune system and biological age. It is also known that short telomeres in white blood cells are connected with various health predicaments such as diabetic mellitus, coronary heart disease and also early death.
Early studies proved that psychological stress was associated with the shortening of telomeres. A study showed that a pre-menopausal woman who was a caregiver of a child suffering from a chronic illness had shorter telomeres. The telomeres was shorter not because of care-giving but because of the stress connected with the illness of the child. However, there are exceptions, chronic stress does not result in health problems and shorter telomeres for everyone.
The manifolds of studies conducted have sought to identify if stress affects our health. However, there has been an absence in examining how to ameliorate the effect of stress upon our physiology. The solution that is being suggested to decrease the ramification of stress on cellular aging is physical activities. Exercise has been associated with longer telomeres in various studies. This applies for a national study on twins and also athletes in contrast to a sedentary group. Therefore, it is expected that physical activities will alleviate negative consequences of stress; shortening of telomeres.
For individuals who are inactive, chronic stress appears to hasten the shorting of telomeres. However, for adults involved in physical exercise the association of telomere length and stress is constant. They do not suffer from decreasing length of telomeres in comparison to their counterpart (sedentary people).
Research Discussion
The amelioration of exercise in respect to side-effects of stress was effectively studied in 63 healthy post-menopausal and non-smoking women.
The research is aligned with earlier studies. Data indicated that psychological stress was connected with the shortening of telomeres. It was also found that physical activity hampered the relationship of stress and shortening telomeres. It was even established that exercise was rightly classified as recommendations by Center for Disease Control (CDC). During a week, exercising vigorously for roughly 75 minutes is enough to sustain a healthy body. It was even shown that physical activities alleviated side effect of stress when external factors like education, body mass index, age, and consumption of antioxidant vitamin was taken into account. Moreover, individuals enjoying a lower socioeconomic status are more prone to stress and usually less involved in physical and leisure activities. It was revealed that individuals who were stressed and physically unfit were more vulnerable to health problems and obesity. In this study, external factors that might influence the link between stress and telomere were ruled-out.
The underlining mechanism of how stress is associated with our cellular level is unclear. However, a potential connection to telomerase activities is the cellular ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase enzyme. It accumulates telomeric DNA to telomeres (which have been shortened) for protecting these cells. It has already been known that chronically stressed people do unfortunately have less telomerase activity. They do also usually show a modified glucocorticoid profile. The expression of urinary stress hormones is also a pathway decreasing telomerase activity and telomeres shortening. There were also other links found demonstrating a drop in telomerase activity.
Effect of Physical Activities in the Body
It was shown that physical activities increased telomerase activity in circulating mononuclear cells and myocytes for rats. It did equally augment the telomerase activity in human leukocytes. These are feasible pathways to prove the findings accurate. It is also plausible that telomere shortening is hampered via exercise as it is influences antioxidant and “oxidative stress”. Continuous stress is directly linked with oxidative stress; a common factor for inhibiting telomerase activity and shortening telomeres in cells. Physical exercise may improve the body’s mechanism to defend against oxidative and DNA damage. The controversy is that an extensive amount of exercise can also cause oxidative damage. Therefore, exercise must be performed at moderate levels otherwise it could cause more damage than benefits.
Moreover, exercise can also safeguard people who are extremely stressed through the autonomic, cognitive and neuroendocrine pathway. It is a mechanism in our nervous system present to respond to stress in our environment. In addition, heart rate beat is enhanced through fitness exercise. Rumination, which is a cognitive response to stress, improves through the induction of exercise as it creates a cortisol response. The fall in cogitation through exercise will heighten our sensation of self-efficacy. The ultimate result is a decrease in cognitive processing via the active neuroendocrine & autonomic responses to stress.
How Much Exercise is Required
The Study showed that 40 minutes of exercise over a period of 3 days would actually eliminate the association of stress with shortening telomeres. The benchmark of 40 minutes of exercise over a period of 3 days corresponds to CDC-recommendations of healthy living.
An impeded drawback was identified in the study. The very fact that stressed individuals need more exercise does not necessarily mean that they are likely to exercise more. The benefit of exercise to stressed individuals is extensive, but they appear to be the less likely to engage in exercise activities. It is thus primordial to understand the factors (personality, time and engagement) motivating stressed individual to enjoy more vigorous exercise.
The study support that physical activities have a potential to delay cellular aging. It is thus a lifestyle factor for longevity. It does also positively react to regulate our BMI and to digest food. However, more studies are fundamental to understand additional dimensions of exercise, like links between exercise and depression. Nonetheless, to conclude, exercise is recommended for all people but especially for those who suffer from intense physiological stress.
Source: Plosone.org and UCSF
Anti Aging, Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle, Longevity
Fri, Jun 18, 2010
Anti Aging, Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle, Longevity