Stresss Makes You Old

Now we know why all the mountain folk can live to 100++ years. I'd be surprised if there's any life less stressful. Heh heh the next big beauty product would be relaxation packages. If you're gonna pay a couple of hundred on anti-aging cream, you might as well spend the same amount at a spa for the same effect. The next time you give yourself a break, think of it as an investment to your health. *wink*

Excerpt from NYT: Too Much Stress May Give Genes Gray Hair

[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 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. [...]

He said the research provided some of the clearest evidence yet "of the price in wear and tear on the tissues that everybody pays during a stressful life."

"And we know as we get older," Dr. McEwen continued, "we have a greater tendency to put on fat, to develop heart disease and diabetes." [...]

"When people are under stress, they look haggard, it's like they age before your eyes, and here's something going on at a molecular level" that reflects that impression, said Dr. Blackburn, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics.