Anxiety and accelerated aging

We know that stress is unhealthy. The reviewed research is fascinating because it examined the relationship between the length of telomeres and anxiety (Okereke OI, et al. 2012). Shorter telomeres are thought to be a cause of poor health and aging. This means that this study gives us information on how anxiety may affect aging.

The participants were 5,243 women aged 42-69 years. The results showed that especially high phobic anxiety was associated with shorter telomeres. It could mean up to six years of accelerated aging.

If you have anxiety, I recommend to start meditating. Meditation is not only beneficial when it comes to reducing stress, it has also shown a lot of other benefits. I highly recommend it.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.

Reference:

Okereke OI, Prescott J, Wong JY, Han J, Rexrode KM, De Vivo I. High phobic anxiety is related to lower leukocyte telomere length in women. PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40516. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040516. Epub 2012 Jul 11.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.