Stress and Aging - Dose / Response and Permanence?

While “stress” has frequently been identified as an important factor in accelerated aging, I wonder if they’ve developed a way to precisely measure and track this over the long term, if they’ve identified the mechanisms (is it just cortisol and glucocorticoids, or much more), and if they have a good idea of the dose/response relationship and how long the impact persists… either without treatment, or via different treatments.

And while this study looks more at sudden high stress / trauma events (like surgery), I wonder how this compares to long-term stresses - e.g. high stress jobs, or even living in dangerous areas (e.g Ukraine now, or bad parts of Chicago or other high crime neighborhoods) or ongoing issues like family poverty, or even loneliness, or mental illnesses like anxiety and depression, which also probably cause higher stress levels.

Seems like one day we may all want to wear a Fitbit like device that measures our ongoing stress levels of days and weeks and months, perhaps via GSR (galvanic skin response) and HRV (heart rate variability)…

It would be interesting to to “multi-omic” biological age measures on people prior to high stress situations, after high stress situations (e.g. after the war in Ukraine), and then test results with several months of rapamycin use…

Here is a new study out of Harvard, and with Steve Horvath’s participation:

We report that severe stress triggers transient increases in biological age in mice and humans.

Together, these data show that biological age undergoes a rapid increase in response to diverse forms of stress, which is reversed following recovery from stress. Our study uncovers a new layer of aging dynamics that should be considered in future studies. Elevation of biological age by stress may be a quantifiable and actionable target for future interventions.

Full Paper Here:

2022.05.04.490686v1.full.pdf (2.3 MB)

6 Likes

Unfortunately they can not restore gray hair caused by stress.
I got most of my grays after a 6 month super stress period, so stress definitely causes rapid aging in periods.

4 Likes

Good point - you are right. At least so far, they have not resolved this issue. And while the paper above talks about the biological age increase as transient, there is obviously some aspects which may be transient, but others not transient…

Its interesting how rapamycin has been shown to protect stem cells from aging… makes me wonder whether topical rapamycin on the head might prevent (and/or system rapamycin) might help delay hair greying… in high stress situations…

6 Likes

New related research on stress and accelerated aging:

Stress — in the form of traumatic events, job strain, everyday stressors and discrimination — accelerates aging of the immune system, potentially increasing a person’s risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and illness from infections such as COVID-19, according to a new USC study.

As expected, people with higher stress scores had older-seeming immune profiles, with lower percentages of fresh disease fighters and higher percentages of worn-out white blood cells. The association between stressful life events and fewer ready to respond, or naive, T cells remained strong even after controlling for education, smoking, drinking, BMI and race or ethnicity.

Some sources of stress may be impossible to control, but the researchers say there may be a workaround.

T-cells — a critical component of immunity — mature in a gland called the thymus, which sits just in front of and above the heart. As people age, the tissue in their thymus shrinks and is replaced by fatty tissue, resulting in reduced production of immune cells. Past research suggests that this process is accelerated by lifestyle factors like poor diet and low exercise, which are both associated with social stress.

“In this study, after statistically controlling for poor diet and low exercise, the connection between stress and accelerated immune aging wasn’t as strong,” said Klopack. “What this means is people who experience more stress tend to have poorer diet and exercise habits, partly explaining why they have more accelerated immune aging.”

Improving diet and exercise behaviors in older adults may help offset the immune aging associated with stress.

Full Paper:

Social stressors associated with age-related T lymphocyte percentages in older US adults: Evidence from the US Health and Retirement Study

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2202780119

4 Likes
3 Likes
1 Like

Hmmm…

2 Likes

This is really dangerous information. Reading these papers could be bad for your health.

3 Likes

Exactly!

So i guess we just need to keep in mind that moderate stress is good, and…

But

2 Likes

Good news - a new book for us to recognize the positives of stress:

3 Likes
3 Likes

A new fitness tracker type device announced at the Las Vegas CES trade show this past week, for tracking your stress levels:

The company Website:

2 Likes

Stress Management

I think there will be something in this space someday but not yet.

Wake you up based on sleep stage? They have no idea what sleep stage you are in. Vibrations on skin. Maybe. Skin conductance? That’s a new one for me. Maybe that’s real.

But why? I already know that my stress level is too high. I need to work into my schedule more time for low stress…for recovery.

Ideas from Brian MacKinzie (WiseAthletes podcast)

  • multiple deep breathing sessions a day of at least 5 minutes: HRV biofeedback, self-hypnosis, meditation, deep breathing
  • don’t take phone in the bathroom
  • don’t take phone into the bedroom
  • don’t listen to podcasts or music while driving
  • drive the speed limit (don’t get stressed)
  • easy, low zone 1 movement bookends to the day
  • wind down routine before bed: stretching, review schedule for next day, make todo list, dim lights, low noise, calming music
  • no eating or drinking before bed (stop as early as possible)

Is it working? How’s your sleep? (Without meds).

This is what I’m working on. It’s my 2024 mission.

2 Likes

I wonder if there are good cortisol / glucocorticoid blockers (with minimal side effects) that people may be able to take during stressful periods in their lives, to prevent this type of damage? Or would anti-stress/anxiety and depression medications accomplish this benefit?

Summary: Researchers have found a strong link between stressful life events and deteriorating biological health. Analyzing blood concentrations of four key biomarkers in over 4,900 participants, the study reveals how stress disrupts the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems’ communication, increasing the risk of illnesses like cardiovascular disease and depression.

Chronic stressors like financial strain were particularly detrimental, with those experiencing such stress 59% more likely to be in the high-risk group for health issues. This groundbreaking research underscores the profound impact of stress on our biological systems, regardless of genetic predisposition.

Full research paper (Open access)
Immune-neuroendocrine patterning and response to stress. A latent profile analysis in the English longitudinal study of ageing” by Odessa S. Hamilton et al. Brain, Behavior and Immunity

or perhaps after trauma?

A psychotherapist then leads the patient through their trip. The aim, says Dr Matrenitsky, is to access subconscious traumas: “What we are doing is turning the memories into a metaphoric journey, and that can discharge their emotional pressure.” He says about a third of his patients receiving ketamine enjoy “extremely good” results, and another third achieve “reasonably good” outcomes. Bad reactions are rare, usually manifesting as panic attacks. That is the signal to stop the drip.

Full: https://archive.ph/lj1ls

1 Like

I would always start with breathing exercises. I have tried Seriphos at times to deal with cortisol levels. However, I think some form of meditation/breathing exercises. I use a mixture of box breathing, the physiological sign (Huberman) and NSDR/Yoga Nidra.

I am still having a bit of a struggle getting my RHR back down to the low 50s, high 40s at bed time. I am getting below 50 from time to time, but not on going to bed as I had last year. Mid to lateish last year I was getting it a bit low (in the low 40s), but since trying to give my metabolism a boost things have gone up a bit. BP is following this although I am now getting some better results.

I don’t mind that much as once I have got it back down I will go back onto the metabolic boost. I had an interesting possibilty recently that eating a whole lime (including peel) at dinner may have caused a bit of a boost in itself. However, I have stopped the limes now.

1 Like

Ashwagandha is the classic supplement for stress. But life skills are better for long term success. Meditation, deep breathing, HRV biofeedback, etc. I should also mention movement (low intensity exercise but harder methanol a casual walk) and sunshine / NIR (a little direct sun plus a lot of in the shade around greenery).

2 Likes

Paper (Open Access):

Highlights

  • Stress was associated with a greater risk of belonging to the high-risk immune and neuroendocrine profile.

  • Associations remained after accounting for genetic predisposition to adverse immune and neuroendocrine activity.

  • Over 12% of the sample experienced a high level of stress, with more than 8,000 unique documented experiences of stress.

  • The high stress group tended to be younger, female, smokers, who drank less than three alcoholic drinks a week.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159123003458

1 Like

The more effort older men expended in dealing with stress shortened their lives.

Therefore, let stressors fade and try not to spend too much time worrying or coping.

Don’t worry. Live longer.

1 Like