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Stress Effects |
Get rid of stress (Home) > Stress Effects > Can Stress Accelerate Aging Can Stress Accelerate Aging?We are at the receiving end of stress at any part of our life. Both the aged and comparatively younger ones are facing hard situations and trying to live with them. While the aged people are confronted by physical and monetary problems, the young ones are challenged by their studies, jobs, emotional relationship and friends. Fortunately, we learn to live with the obstacles that have been given by stress with time, but in the fag end of our life, the natural defense mechanism does not perform properly. Naturally, we all identify that there is a relation between how we live and how we die. It then makes sense that if we are challenged by stress during our youth, it will have a negative impact on how we grow older and how quickly that takes place. In the past, it was thought that the animals having low heart rate live longer. That is not considered convincing anymore. Modern theory is that, it is the due to the long-term effect to various stress hormones that can accelerate aging. One particular case is very much fascinating and it has a merit investigating it separately. This is the relation of the body with the release of glucocorticoids during stress. The brain controls the release of the glucocorticoids from the adrenal gland by secreting corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF). That in turn, indicates the adrenal gland to release the glucocorticoids. How does the brain determine when there are sufficient glucocorticoids in the blood? It is mediated by the mechanism for controlling hormone release. The brain controls the release of CRF (and, in turn, the glucocorticoids) using a feedback mechanism. The area of the brain that determines the levels of glucocorticoids in the system is called the hypothalamus. Older people’s thalamus cannot work properly. This will explain the higher level of glucocorticoids even during there is no stress. What could have caused the failure of the feedback system? The answer is not clear but the most likely cause is the glucocorticoids during previous chronic stress. This means that a long duration of being exposed to glucocorticoids will bring about hippocampal damage that will lead to more glucocorticoids being released in the blood stream. Hippocampal damage leads to a disease called – Alzheimer’s disease. This is probably one of the most incapacitating diseases known to man. Hippocampus is the part of brain, which is an important area for storing and retrieving memories. If this area is injured, the person concerned will not recall anything. As it is proved by the scientists that stress can increase the rate of aging, one has to control the stress as far as practicable. You can learn some relaxation technique. You can join classes of Meditation and Yoga. These two have a great potentiality for relieving stress. Regular exercise is another fruitful option. Fix a time everyday that you can spare for work out. Regular exercise helps to wash the excess stress hormones from the body. Bring laugh to your life. Proper planning in life is essential to lessen stress. Learn to say “NO”. It will help us to regularize our work plan.
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