Stress makes people age faster

The people, who have to deal with a lot of stress in their lives, are at higher risk of suffering from age related diseases

If you have a lot of &to=http://english.pravda.ru/science/ 19/94/377/14228_supernatural.html' target=_blank>stress, say researchers at the University of California, your cells will age faster, you will be at higher risk of age related diseases earlier in life - put simply, you will get &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/2000/12/21/1594.html' target=_blank>old faster and more likely die earlier.

You can read about this new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers, led by Dr Elissa Epel, say that chromic psychological stress can lead to the shortening of the telomeres on the ends of chromosomes in white blood cells - accelerating their death, reports Medical News Today.

The researchers found that the telomeres in the &to=http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/03/14/26988_.html' target=_blank>immune-system cells of women with the highest perceived psychological stress had undergone the equivalent of about ten years' additional ageing compared with women with the lowest perceptions of stress.

In the 14 women with the highest stress scores, telomeres averaged 3,110 units in length; the 14 with the lowest stress had telomeres that averaged 3,660 units.

In adults, telomeres shorten by an average of 31 to 63 units per year, so the scientists estimate that the 550-unit shortening in the high-stress group translates to 9 to 17 additional years of aging.