Nobel Prize Winner, Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD and Elissa Epel, PhD

Introduction

During my early career at Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, I attended a woman’s health conference at the University of San Francisco, where I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn discuss the discovery of telomeres, the capping structure at the end of your DNA that make up your chromosomes. It was fascinating. So of course, when I came across her book, I had to read it and what an exciting read.

“The Telomere Effect” book illuminates the complicated relationship between cell biology (Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn) and psychology (Dr.Elissa Epel) and the correlation with health, aging, and longevity.

The Science of Telomere

The science of telomeres tells us how quickly our cells age and this breakthrough research has created a dramatic shift in the understanding of human health, aging, and longevity. The underlying hypothesis is as your telomeres shorten, your body rapidly ages and get riddled with disease.

Of course, aging and death are inevitable, but understanding this new science will help you live a better and fuller life in your later years. According to Dr. Blackburn, the latest thinking about DNA is our cells become progressively damaged, causing cells to become irreversibly aged and dysfunctional. The new science of telomeres has profound implications that can help us understand how to reduce chronic disease and improve our wellbeing and longevity.

What’s exciting about this book it will show you how to slow or even reverse the process. The authors have condensed a large body of complex scientific data into a highly readable, nontechnical, “how-to” manual on strategies that will enhance your health.

Below are some key points from the book

Nature or nurture? Which is right? Which has the most significant impact? Genes or environment? Well, according to Dr. Blackburn, both are critical, and the interaction between the two is what that matters. Optimal health, longevity, and aging lie in the complex interactions between genes, social relationships, environments, lifestyle, and how you respond to stressful events. Telomeres, the caps at the end of your DNA, shorten with each cell division, they help determine how fast your cells age and when they will die, depending on how quickly they wear down. But, what has been learned through the incredible research performed by Dr. Blackburn and Dr. Epel is the ends of your chromosome can actually lengthen, and as a result, the aging process can be slowed. Aging is a dynamic process that accelerates or delays, and in some aspects, can be reversed. Aging does not need to be, as initially thought, a fast path toward infirmity and decay. We all will get older, but how we age is very much dependent on our cellular health.

Lifestyle Matters

The way you live tells your telomere to speed up or slow down the process of cellular aging. The food you eat, your response to emotional challenges, the amount of exercise you get, whether you were exposed to childhood stress, and even the level of trust and safety in your neighborhood are all factors and influence your telomeres. The key to an extended health span is merely doing your part to foster healthy cell renewal.

Our bodies renew immune cells, bone cells, gut cells, lung cells, liver cells, skin and hair cells, pancreatic cells, and the cells that line our cardiovascular systems. They divide over and over to keep our bodies healthy. Of course, there are some cells we want to stop renewing and dividing, and those would be cancer cells. But if we better understand the levers on good cell renewal, we can have joints that move fluidly, lungs that breathe easily, immune cells that fiercely fight infections, a heart that keeps pumping strong, and a brain that remains sharp throughout the elderly years. By cultivating your telomeres health, you can optimize your chances of living a life that is not just longer but better.

How prematurely Aging Cells Make you look and feel

Have you asked yourself, How old do I look? How do you rate your physical health? How old do you feel? These are simple questions but can reveal significant trends in your health and aging. Aging cells can no longer respond to stresses normally, whether the stress is physical or psychological. Aging skin, premature graying hair, bone loss – What does your appearance say about your health? FYI – Is no beauty contest: Health is what matters and how much you age is a reflection of your inner health.

How does this relate to inflammation? If you remember from my last post about an anti-inflammation diet, science tells us that inflammation has a direct correlation to many illness and diseases. And chronic inflammation is also a factor in heart disease, brain diseases, gum disease, Crohn’s disease, Celia disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, hepatitis, cancer, and many more. If you want to stay healthy for as long as possible, you’ve got to prevent chronic inflammation, and a big part of controlling inflammation means protecting your telomeres.

The Power of Long Telomeres

It’s the people with longer telomeres who are living a healthy, active life well into their eights and nineties. Telomere length predicts mortality overall, and those with the longest telomeres have the lowest rate of death from cancers, heart disease, and all other causes added up.

Telomerase, the Enzyme that Replenishes Telomeres

Here’s how telomerase works. Telomerase creates new telomeres pattered on its own biochemical sequence. It includes both protein and RNA, which you can think of as a copy of your DNA. That copy consists of a template of the telomere’s DNA sequence. Telomerase uses that sequence in the RNA as its own inbuilt biochemical guide creating the correct sequence of brand-new DNA. In the end, the telomerase re-creates new endings at the chromosome’s tips and replaces those that have been worn down. Telomerase can slow, prevent, or even reverse the shortening of telomeres that come with cell division. Isn’t the body amazing?

Unraveling how stress gets into your Cells

Did you know your cells listen to your thoughts? Many people ruminate over stressful events. Stress is inevitable, but toxic or chronic stress is something to be aware of. Severe, long-term stress can shorten telomeres. The authors suggest developing a challenge response to stress. A challenge response doesn’t make you less stressed, but it is a positive response on stress, therefore, putting you in a more powerful, focused state. How do you deal with stress? Do you ruminate or do you see it as a challenge and take it on?

Negative Thinking, Resilient Thinking

Negativity can make you feel dark, heavy, and gloomy; feel reactive and defensive; and have a view of the world through a filter of fear, anger, and paranoia. Since your body and mind are so profoundly intertwined, mental and emotional negativity also has a physical counterpart; tense muscles, shallow breathing, increased blood pressure, evaluated levels of adrenalin and cortisol. All of these are signs of the bodies stress responses. Our thought patterns, unfortunately, can be automatic and hard to change. Some of us are born cynics or pessimists, and some of us ruminate about problems, but you can learn how to improve your thinking style to empower yourself.

Depression and Anxiety

If you want to protect your telomeres, you need to protect yourself from the effects of depression and anxiety. Some people have a proclivity toward depression and anxiety, and it is partially influenced by genes, but that does not mean it is out of your control. Mindfulness-based interventions can help, and in some cases, counseling may be required.

Below is a list of Telomere prevention steps suggested by the authors to keep your telomeres healthy:

• Evaluate sources of persistent, intense stress. What can you change?
• Turn the stressful event into a challenge. How can you empower yourself?
• Become more self-compassionate and compassionate toward others.
• Try restorative activities. Practice meditation and or mindfulness interventions
• Be active. How often to you exercise? Are you sedentary?
• Get restful and restorative sleep. How often do you get 7 – 8 hours of restful sleep? What can you do to improve your sleep habits?
• Stop overeating and override cravings. Eating small, healthy meals through-out the day “grazing” is better than 3 big meals
• Choosing telomere health means eating healthy, whole foods, omega 3s, low or no sugar. What do you eat?
• Disconnect from screens for part of a day. How well do you manage your Social Media or cell phones interactions?
• Cultivate a few good and close relationships. Keep positive friends near and eliminate negative associations
• Cultivate your social capital. Help others
• Spend time in nature. Go for a walk, a hike, a bike ride.
• Protect children and others from violence and other dramas. What do you do to stay safe?
• Reduce inequality. Love all, dignity and grace for all – What’s your take?
• Improve food choices. Eat fresh, healthy foods

What do you think about this article? Was it useful? If so, let me know.

cited sources: The Telomere Effect; The Inflammation Solution