“What makes us grow old? Stress, violence, poverty and discrimination”
“The way we age, with more or less grey hair, wrinkles, and diseases, is related to the length of the protective tips of our chromosomes: telomeres. Surprisingly, how we deal with stress and the social environment we live in influences the size of our telomeres and with them the number of years of healthy life we can expect. ”
“Chronological aging (the number of years that have passed since birth) is different from biological aging (the aging state that our cells actually have).”
“There are a lot of people who at age 50 are in good health, but there are others who at that age start to suffer from old age diseases: cardiovascular and pulmonary problems, arthritis, weakened immune systems, diabetes or cancer. The number of years of healthy life we have is our “health interval.” A person who lives to 100 may have 50 or 70 years free from the diseases of aging (the difference is great) The rest is the “interval of illness.” What most of us want is to have many years of healthy life and not just prolong life in a state of decrepitude. ”
“Scientific research has been demonstrating that aging is a process regulated by our genes. (…) But the processes of aging are not a destination traced at the time each of us was conceived.” Like Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel writes in their book: “We were born with a defined set of genes, but the way we live can influence how these genes express themselves.” The new idea of aging is this: instead of just treating each of the diseases related to aging, try to curb biological aging. ”
“There are several anti-aging approaches.”
“In addition to our type of stress response that we can try to train, there are also several social factors that influence the size of our telomeres. Growing up in poor and violent neighborhoods or being a frequent target of bullying is associated with a shorter length of telomeres in children. The same applies to adults who have been victims of child abuse or are subject to various types of adversity (such as parental unemployment or serious illness). Racial discrimination can also accelerate aging, as can domestic violence. This means that we do not only have the ability to influence the size of our telomeres, but also those of others. What have you done for your telomeres … and your family and your community today? ”
David Marçal, translation of excerpts of an article, full in:
https://www.publico.pt/2018/06/03/ciencia/noticia/o-que-nos-faz-envelhecer-stress-violencia-pobreza-e-discriminacao-1825463