Can stress accelerate aging?

All of us must have felt the curse of stress at some part of our life. Both the older and the comparatively younger persons are forced to face difficult situations and learning to coexist with them. While the elderly persons are to deal with the physical and financial problems, the younger generation is facing the difficulties in their studies, friends, emotional relationships and workplaces. Luckily, we learn to cope up with the difficulties that are the effect of stress with due course of time. But during the last couple of decades in our life, the natural defense mechanism of our body fails to perform in an effective way.

We can spot the relation between how we live and how we die. The earlier in our life we are confronted by stress, the scenario becomes worse. The stress will leave a negative impact upon the way we become older and how fact that occurs.

In earlier years, the belief was that the animals those who have lower heart rate will live longer. No more that is considered reliable. Modern hypothesis is that it is because of the long term effects to various stressors and stress hormones which are responsible for accelerating the aging process.

A specific case is very much interesting and has a worth for separate study. It is the relation of body and the secretion of glucocorticoid hormones during stress. The hypothalamus present in the central nervous system regulates the secretion of glucocorticoids from the adrenal gland by releasing a hormone – Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH). CRH consequently commands the adrenal gland to release the glucocorticoid hormones.

How does the hypothalamus decide when there is enough glucocorticoid in the blood pool? Actually it is regulated by the mechanisms present in our body for controlling the secretion of all the hormones. The hypothalamus controls the secretion of CRH and consequently the glucocorticoids using a feedback mechanism. Hypothalamus in the aged people can not work as it should be. This is the reason the higher level of glucorticoids in the blood even the person is not suffering from any kind of stress.

What may be the reason of the malfunctioning of the feedback system? The answer is not obvious, but the most likely reason is the increased level of glucorticoids during the period of chronic stress. Again it may be concluded that a prolonged exposure to glucocorticoids will result in Hippocampal damage, which may lead to more glucorticoids being released in the blood stream.

Hippocampal damage leads to another disease called – Alzheimer’s disease. This is undoubtedly one of those extremely debilitating diseases known to man. Hippocampus is a part of the brain that is a vital area for storage and retrieving memories. This is the reason; the persons suffering from full blown Alzheimer’s disease can not recall any of his long term or short term memory.

Experts have proved that the chronic stress can accelerate the rate of aging. So it is imperative to say that everybody should control the stress as far as possible.

You can do some relaxation techniques. You can do a course upon yoga and meditation. These two ways have an immense potentiality for relieving stress. Regular exercise is another effective approach. Fix a time from your schedule everyday that is suitable for you to exercise. Regular workout helps to wash out the surplus stressors and stress hormones from your body. Proper planning in life is essential to reduce stress. You must bring laugh in your life.