Researchers form the University of California in San Francisco have reported that exercise helps to prevent, and even reverse, the effects of stress on the cells. They found that stress resulted in shorter telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes. The telomeres are a measure of the age and health of the cells.
They examined telomeres in the white blood cells, of the immune system, which defends the body against both infectious agents and cell damage.
Their findings suggest that traumatic and chronic stressful life events are associated with shortening of telomeres in cells of the immune system, but that physical activity moderates the impact.
Telomeres are tiny units of DNA at the ends of chromosomes that protect the chromosomes. Each time a cell divides, some telomeres come off and after a certain number of cell divisions the telomeres reach a critical length and the cell typically dies.
Scientists have known for over a decade that the length of telomeres in immune system cells is a marker of cell aging. In recent years, they have discovered that shorter telomeres are associated with a broad range of age-related diseases and are predictive of incidence and severity of cardiovascular disease and a variety of cancers.
In their latest research, they studied three different groups of women who were under some type of stress. In all three groups, an increase in perceived level of stress was related to an increase in the odds of having short telomeres.
However, this was only evident in the non-exercising women. In those who exercised, perceived stress was not related to telomere length.
The researchers concluded that exercise protects the telomeres from the shortening effect of stress, thereby reducing the risk of premature ageing and chronic disease. Even people who had experienced severe stress as a child seemed to be protected by exercise later in life.
If you have, or have had, stress in your life, get exercising to protect the ends of your chromosomes and live a longer, healthier life.
Article Author: David Beard, Calico Exercise Physiologist and Healthy Ageing expert