LOVE YOURSELF- REASON #3 WHY YOURE NOT ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS? You are not getting enough RESTORATION

LOVE YOURSELF: Reason #3 for you not achieving your goals is adequate RESTORATION.

Are you restoring yourself enough for you to adapt to your training? 

So you have set your goals, you have drawn up a detailed plan of action, and you are definitely actioning accordingly. You are really getting your head down and working hard when you need to,  but after 6 weeks you are still not making any progression towards achieving your goals? is this leaving you flabbergasted as to why this is happening? Are you also getting sick and tired frequently for no apparent reason?

The reason why you may not be achieving the results that you set out to (and you should be given the amount of effort you are making with your training) could be that you are not focussing enough on your RESTORATION sessions within your training plan. You have planned all of your training sessions out effectively and sequentially  but you have forgotten to plan adequate rest and nutrition around your training (part of restoration).  This means that your body is in constantly in fight mode (sympathetically overloaded)  rather than being allowed to recover and adapt to your training (parasympathetically activated) accordingly

RESTORATION is an essential part of your training program, especially if you want to achieve the best results. In fact the more intense your training and life in general, the more you should be focussing on the way that you recover from your training. This is especially true of life dis-stress, when you consider the many other environment and social stressors nowadays which many of us face, (which are more prevalent than ever),  such as  lack of jobs, poor job security, increased workloads and then lack of time, high priced housing,  school fees and GFC etc. All these undue stressors can create huge mental pressure and often we dismiss it,  as we can'tsee it, but unfortunately your body recognises every part any dis-stress within your life. Yes that's right! Because your body is a super dooper survival warrior, it will reflect your thoughts (distresses such as worry anxiety),  back upon it's ability to function and restore optimally.

Kinesiologists recognise that emotional stress is directly linked to pain in different areas of the body. So it's important we manage everything from a 360 degree view to stay injury free and enable a good level of progression from our training and nutrition plan.

Why does this happen? 

Believe it or not,  even worrying about life and worrying often, can force your sympathetic nervous system chronically into over drive,  hindering your ability to recover effectively from your training and thus effecting your overall health and quality of your results. This is because your sympathetic nervous system is not designed to be bashed continuously with dis-stress (continuous thoughts going on in your brain such as … hate my job, I'm running out of time to finish my work as i am trying to complete two peoples, I'm worried about paying my bills etc) . Rather;  your sympathetic nervous system is actually designed to be used in emergencies insert scenario….in the jungle running from the tiger, 'short and sharp thrust of adrenaline required please Mr nervous system' which causes your body to go into fight or flight mode.

As I mentioned above, the problem nowadays is we are subjected to deal much more chronic forms of life stress than any other day and age, making our sympathetic nervous system kick and you can sure bet that kicking it does! But chronically? That spells disaster!

WHY? Quite simply, our body is not designed to deal with this stress for these lengths

of time,  therefore continuing through high levels of dis-tress for lengthy periods means that at one time or another something has to give. Right? 

Yes! Right! Especially so because you are on mission to achieve results from your training,  you are now focussed on recovering from your training allowing you to make significant progressions. So you are going to have to find a way of taming that sympathetic bad boy, otherwise there is no chance on earth your parasympathetic nervous system (which is your body's the recovery/relaxation system) is going to comply with your health and fitness goals.  You guessed it!  Your restorative ability can only occur in parasympathetic mode, which when (and only when) we have got the sympathetic nervous system (part of the nervous system that deals with stress) under control. Also did you know … Your parasympathetic system is where you should be most of the time? So crucial that we now try and reaquaint our poor mind and body with this awesomely chilled dude friend of ours, the parasympathetic system.

How can we therefore nurture our para-sympathetic friend?

THE SOLUTION = FIND A MODALITY WHICH YOU WILL COMPLY WITH THAT HELPS TO IMPROVE YOUR RESTORATION: 

We can restore our body via a number of modalities so its important to find the one that works best for you so that you stick to it which then in turn allows for your lasting results…..

1. Meditation and diaphragmatic breathing

Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.  Lazar et al studiedmeditation and the areas of the brain that were stimulated.

They proved that the practice of meditation indeed does activate neural structures (dorsolateral prefrontal parietal  hippocampus, temporal lobe) involved within attention and control of the ANS. Meditation has been shown to improve sports performance.  Solberg et al (1993) studied 25 elite shooters, whereby competition scores were measured with and without meditation practice. The competition results were better with the meditation intervention. The authors found that when the athletes practiced meditation it lowered their tension resulting in the better performance outcomes. Solberg et al (2000) found that meditative practice in runners improved their recovery times in comparison to a control group. The runners blood lactate concentration was significantly decreased in the runners who practiced meditation. According to Martarelli et al (2009) it may not be as in depth as meditation paractice to create a positive impaction the parasympathetic pathways. The authors found found that athletes who simply practiced breathing through the diaphragm significantly reduced oxidative stress related to exercise and as a result reduced cortisol and increase in melatonin. This lower oxidative stress initiated by breathing through the diaphragm,  could protect athletes from the long term effects of free radicals. 

Try to practice diaphragmatic breathing everyday; once before you get out of bed in the morning and once you get into bed at night. Slow the rhythm of your breathing down so that your in breath matches your out breath (which should ideally be for 4 seconds in Vs four seconds out)  Try to take really big belly breaths where you use your nose to breathe in and mouth to breathe out. Place your hands around your waist, and feel your diaphragm become active, whilst avoiding using your back to breathe.

2. Stretching and rolling 

Yoga:Yoga is a Hindu theistic philosophy a sequence of exercises, teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and for the purposes of dinstiguishing the differences between the body and mind in order to attain liberation, mental control and wellbeing.    Sharma (2015) believes that  Yoga is important for sports performance as it can play a key role in cultivating mind control and concentration which helps a

sportsperson to perform at their peak.  Aside from the improvement of musculoskeletal flexibility and joint range of motion, Yoga is thought to create a stable autonomic nervous system equilibrium with a tendency toward the parasympathetic nervous system dominance rather than the usual stress induced sympathetic nervous

 system dominance. In 2005.  Donohue et al found that a yoga intervention proved beneficial to one mile run performance when matched for a control group with no intervention. Boyle et al (2004) studied the effects of a yoga intervention on muscle soreness after a DOMS inducing step protocol. They found that women within the yoga intervention group improved their recovery times compared to the group with no intervention. In order to move better within our training we require flexibility so that we can move within our entire range. Yoga has been proven to aid ROM . There was an increase in range of motion for these movements, muscular strengths for each side of the leg and chest muscles. In their study of the effect of yoga on bilateral strength and hip range of motion, Pauline and Rintaugu (2011) found that  a12 week yoga training practice created improvements in shoulder flexion, hip flexion, hip extension and abduction range of motion. I recommend starting with a beginners form of yoga which focusses more on breathing before you move to more dynamic versions.

Of course there's my new 30 min myofacial stretch sessions which enable better movement, better performance and better results. Ask me to find out more:

3. Massage 

The mechanical pressure applied to the musculo-skeletal system during a sport massage  may increase blood flow, and can increase or decrease neuro excitability (depending on the specific techniques used by the therapist). For your recovery from

your training sessions, it is interesting to note that there are changes to the paraypathetic activity and hormones during massage and resulting in a relaxation response. (Warping et al 2005). Arroyo-Morales et al (2005) found that Massage may favour recovery in the immune system, after high intensity training sessions, Lee et al (2011) studied the effect  of applied heat and massage on stress markers in the body on 139 subjects. The subjects within this study were measured for heart rate variability, sympathetic skin response, and serum cortisol and norepinephrine levels. All these markers were shown to decrease in subjects after a two week period. the authors concluded that heat and massage applications provide relaxation to the autonomic nervous system without serious adverse effects. in their review on sports massage and sport performance Best et al (2008). found that there were moderate benefits for massage upon sports performance in several randomised controlled trials. My main advise for massage is to find a therapist in your area who has come recommended or you know is good and stick with them as much as possible, due to the fact that there is quite  a lot of variability between therapists.

4 . Sleep

Getting enough sleep and good quality sleep is an essential part of your recovery program. Halson (2014) suggests that sleep has numerous important physiological and cognitive functions, that may be particularly important to elite athletes. The deprivation of sleep has significant effects on performance effects on athletic performance, especially sub-maximal  prolonged exercise. Interestingly compromised sleep may also influence learning, memory, cognition, pain perception, immunity and inflammation.changes in glucose metabolism and neuroendocrine function as a result of chronic. Lack of sleep can influence the metabolism of the foods you eat, such as alterations in carbohydrate metabolism, appetite, food intake and protein synthesis. These factors combined can ultimately have a negative influence on an athlete’s nutritional, metabolic and endocrine status and hence potentially reduce athletic performance, so certainly we can see that making an effort to get enough sleep and good quality sleep should serve as a priority if you would lie to achieve top notch results.

5.Nutrition. 

In order to initiate optimal muscle repair and energy levels from training,  recovery nutrition should be of a paramount for any training program to be successful. The AIS suggest that recovery nutrition encompasses a complex range of processes that include; refueling the muscle and liver glycogen (carbohydrate) stores, replacing the fluid and electrolytes lost in sweat,  manufacturing new muscle protein, red blood cells and other cellular components as part of the repair and adaptation process, and allowing the immune system to handle the damage and challenges caused by the exercise bout. This is a vast topic to cover, so In order to find out how you implement nutrients for your training, download my FREE macronutrient guide.

Conclusion: Aside from sleep and nutrition (which are non negotiable for recovery),  you should choose the modalities that promote recovery that work best for you. If you are feeling tired and not achieving the results from your training which you deserve when considering your intensity of your training, it is highly advisable to review how you are nurturing your parasympathetic system, as a lack of emphasis on your recovery will stump your results significantly as well as put you at increased risk of injury. 

REFERENCES

Arroyo-Morales M1, Olea N, Ruíz C, del Castilo Jde D, Martínez M, Lorenzo C, Díaz-Rodríguez L.(2005) Massage after exercise--responses of immunologic and endocrine markers: a randomized single-blind placebo-controlled study. J Strength Cond Res. 2009. Vol 23(2):Pp 638-44. 

Best TM, Hunter R, Wilcox A, Haq F (2008). Effectiveness of sports massage for recovery of skeletal muscle from strenuous exercise.

Clin J Sport Med. Vol ;18(5): Pp 446-60. 

Boyle, CA.; Sayers SP,; Jenson BE, Headly SA, Manos T M.(2004) The effects of yoga training and a single bout of yoga on delayed onset muscle soreness in the lower extremity.  Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research

Halson S. (2014) .Sleep in Elite Athletes and Nutritional Interventions to Enhance Sleep Sports Med. Vol 44(Suppl 1): Pp 13–23

Lazar SW, George B; Gollub RL, Fricchione GL,; Khalsa G, Gurucharan BH; ( 2000). "Functional brain mapping of the relaxation response and meditation". Neuroreport 11 (7): 1581–5

MacDonald GZ, Penney MD, Mullaley ME, Cuconato AL, Drake CD, Behm DG, Button DC.(2013) An acute bout of self-myofascial release increases range of motion without a subsequent decrease in muscle activation or force. J Strength Cond Res. Vol 27(3): Pp 812-21

Martarelli D,  Cocchioni M  Scuri S and Pompei P. (2011) Diaphragmatic Breathing Reduces Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 

Miller A,  Beisecker M,   Houser D,  Valdez R ,  S Tiller S,  Taymar T (2005).  Effects of brief yoga exercises and motivational preparatory interventions in distance runners: results of a controlled trial. Br J Sports Med. Vol;40(1):Pp 60-3;

Pearcey GE1, Bradbury-Squires DJ, Kawamoto JE, Drinkwater EJ, Behm DG, Button DC.(2015) Foam rolling for delayed-onset muscle soreness and recovery of dynamic performance measures. J Athl Train.Vol. 50(1): Pp 5-13.

Sharma L (2015). Benefits of Yoga in Sports- A Study. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health 2015; 1(3): Pp 30-32 

Solberg EE, Berglund KA, Engen O, Ekeberg O, and Loeb M (1996) The effect of meditation on shooting performance. Research article. Br J Sports Med. Vol. 30:Pp 342-346 

Solberg EE,   Ingjer F,  A Holen A,  Sundgot-Borgen J,  S Nilsson S,   Holme I (2000) Stress reactivity to and recovery from a standardised exercise bout: a study of 31 runners practising relaxation techniques. Br J Sports Med . Vol (34):Pp 268-272

Weerapong P1, Hume PA, Kolt GS(2005)The mechanisms of massage and effects on performance, muscle recovery and injury prevention. Sports Med. Vol 35(3):Pp 235-56.

Young-Hee Lee, Bit Na Ri Park, and Sung Hoon Kim(2011) The Effects of Heat and Massage Application on Autonomic Nervous SystemYonsei Med J. 2011 Nov 1; 52(6): 982–989.

Love YOURSELF

LOVE YOURSELF

As many women (and men) these days are incredible muti-taskers and as super emotionally charged beings we tend, to put ourselves in lieu of the people that are closest to our heart. This is especially so for parents especially mothers, we are often always so involved with our little ones that we totally forget that we need to look after ourselves.

Well, is this is all necessary? At times I think yes- we must go through survival mode in order to get by. For example, my partner has recently been away for months, which means I have been in single mum mindset, trying to balance everything on the work, life front is not always easy. Fortunately, now because  I have more normality, i must think of ways that I can actually thrive rather than survive. In retrospect, If i were to to successfully ever be in this situation again I must think of ways that I can love myself more so that i can actually be a better mother to my daughter.

So i'm here to challenge the thought of putting everyone before yourself, is this really actually more selfish than putting yourself before your loved ones?

Can you really be the best mum ever, if you don't go and have some of your own time, do a workout for example?, so that you can come back to your kids with all the happy hormones because you feel better about yourself for moving. Can you be the best mum if you choose poorly when it comes to food as you haven't prepared properly because you're rushing around everywhere for everyone else,  and gain as a result gain excess Kgs therefore your self esteem is on the floor?  Can you really be the best mum ever if you don't ever take time out for yourself and do your favourite yoga class which helps you to relieve the stress and strain of daily life, making you come back home as a peaceful mummy?

Kids are really sensitive, they can feel your vibe, when your rushed,  when you feel like shit, when you look like you've been run over by a bus, and you snap far too easily because because you are trying far top hard to please everyone else, and as a result your health and wellbeing is jeopardised,  your kids, your family and your friends they all feel this vibe. 

So what things can you do, even it's for 5 mins today that can help boost your confidence and allow you to LOVE yourself?

These examples of somethings that you could do in 5 mins are more simple than you might think and are definitely boost your mummy performance:

Examples

• Meditation
• Breathing
• Stretching
• Walking (you can take the kids with you)
• Push ups
• Sit ups
• Lunges
• Squats
• Meal preparation
• Sit out in the fresh air for 5 mins
• Listen to your favourite tune and have a secret dance by yourself.

So tell me what things will you do to love YOURSELF?

Could stress be costing your looks and your life years? An investigation into stress and premature ageing.

INTRODUCTION

Upon examining the evidence, it is little or no surprise that life stress has dire effects on our health and

longevity and has been directly linked to pre-mature ageing.    Stress is associated with mood disorders such as depression, compromises the immune system (Ipel et al 2004)   and may contribute to excess vulnerability for diseases of ageing such as cardiovascular disease, diseases of the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, seasonal affective disorder and schizophrenia plus is even linked to obesity. Tuohimaa (2009). Stress has been shown to cause and accelerate some cancers through accelerated organismal ageing. Substantial evidence also supports abnormalities in stress-related biological systems in depression.  Cancers have also been linked to stress and depression. For example; Reichea et al, 2005 found that stressors and depression are associated with the decreased cytotoxic T-cell and natural-killer-cell activities that affect processes such as immune surveillance of tumours. It has been found that the accumulation of damage on DNA and telomeres cause both aging and cancer. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that stress and anxiety may be a risk factor for the development of Conanary Heart Disease (CHD). Kunansky et al (1998) describe the effects of chronic anxiety, highlighting that this mood disorder may increase the risk of CHD by influencing health behaviours such as smoking, promotes atherogenesis (e.g. via increased risk of hypertension) and can trigger fatal coronary events, either through arrhythmia, plaque rupture, coronary vasospasm, or thrombosis. There appears to be a close functional relationship between the nervous and the immune system in the physiological adaptation to stress, which supports the concept that an optimum level of performance of these two systems is needed to attain a long life span. Guaverbas (2002)

At the cellular level, scientists have proven that accelerated telomere shortening may reflect stress-related oxidative damage to cells and accelerated ageing, and severe psychosocial stress has also been associated with telomere shortening (Tuohimaa, 2009).  Life stress has been shown to shorten the life span by over a decade!

Let's first examine stress? WHAT IS STRESS?

Stress  may be conceived of as a challenge or threat to homeostasis, which generally induces a stress response as an attempt to restore homeostasis.

There are two types of stress that could be categorised as being favourable and less favourable  These stresses can be  ‘eustresses’ that enhance function, whereas  dis- tresses’ can have harmful effects.By definition, Baum (1990) coins the term stress as any uncomfortable "emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological and behavioural changes.

According to psychology.org.au, when we face a stressful event, our bodies respond by activating the nervous system and releasing hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol. These hormones cause physical changes in the body which help us to react quickly and effectively to get through the stressful situation. This is sometimes called the ‘fight or flight’ response. The hormones increase our heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, metabolism and muscle tension. Our pupils dilate and our perspiration rate increases.

While these physical changes help us try to meet the challenges of the stressful situation, they can cause other physical or psychological symptoms if the stress is ongoing and the physical changes don’t settle down.

These symptoms can include:

• Headaches, other aches and pains 
• Sleep disturbance, insomnia 
• Upset stomach, indigestion, diarrhoea 
• Anxiety 
• Anger, irritability 
• Depression 
• Fatigue 
• Feeling overwhelmed and out of control 
• Feeling moody, tearful 
• Difficulty concentrating 
• Low self-esteem, lack of confidence 
• High blood pressure 
• Weakened immune system 
• Heart disease 

STRESS AND PREMATURE AGEING

 JOB STRESS? Is it worth your wage to potentially reduce your lifespan by over a decade? Over-working can cause undue stress and premature ageing, particularly within the

female population.   Irie (2001) investigated the relationship between work-related factors, including psychological stress, and the formation of a type of oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG). 54 healthy workers (27 male and 27 females) in a company were investigated for 8-OH-dG levels in the peripheral blood leukocytes at the time of a questionnaire survey regarding several factors, such as working hours, workload, fatigue, sleep, psychological stress and the prospect of alleviating it. From the results of this study, the authors that,  psychological stress and perceived overwork appear to be related to the pathogenesis of cancer via the formation of 8-OH-dG, particularly in female workers.

Chronic stress has been shown to have catastrophic effects on mood, and can lead to depression. In fact,  It has been known for over 40 years that stressful life events are associated with an episodes of major depression (Kindler et al 1999). 

Depression is highlighted as a mood disorder which accelerates the ageing process in individuals so is certainly worth considering when investigating the anti ageing topic. Depression has been conceptualised as a dysregulated activation of the generalized stress response (Chrousos 1998; Raison and Miller 2003) and can damage your body over time. Chronic activation of stress response mediators, although adaptive in the short term, can result in chronic “wear and tear” to tissues or organ compartments (Chrousos 1998); McEwen (2003) has elegantly modeled mood and anxiety disorders as chronic stresses with chronic biological adaptations that result in long-term biological damage.

Wolkowitz and Epel (2010) found that  depressed individuals have a higher incidence of various diseases of aging, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, and dementia. Chronic exposure to certain interlinked biochemical pathways that mediate stress-related depression may contribute to “accelerated aging,” cell damage, and certain comorbid medical illnesses

Simon et al (2006) suggest that there is substantial evidence supports abnormalities in stress-related biological systems in depression. Accelerated telomere shortening may reflect stress-related oxidative damage to cells and accelerated aging, and severe psychosocial stress has been linked to telomere shortening. 

In their study, Reichea et al, 2005 found that the persistent activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the chronic stress response and in depression probably impairs the immune response, contributing to the development and progression of some types of cancer.  Reichea et al, 2005 discovered, both stressors and depression are associated with the decreased cytotoxic T-cell and natural-killer-cell activities that affect processes such as immune surveillance of tumours.

WHAT ARE TELOMERES?

Telomeres are repetitive DNA sequences that cap and protect the ends of chromosomes; critically short telomeres may lead to cellular senescence or carcinogenic transformation.  (Parks et al 2009). Telomeres prevent end-to-end recombination and thus serve a critical role in the maintenance of chromosomal integrity (Black-burn 2000, 2001).

Inside the nucleus of a cell, our genes are arranged along twisted, double-stranded molecules of DNA called chromosomes. At the ends of the chromosomes are stretches of DNA called telomeres, which protect our genetic data, make it possible for cells to divide, and hold some secrets to how we age and get cancer. Telomeres have been compared with the plastic tips on shoelaces, because they keep chromosome ends from fraying and sticking to each other, which would destroy or scramble an organism's genetic information.Yet, each time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, the cell can no longer divide; it becomes inactive or "senescent" or it dies. This shortening process is associated with aging, cancer, and a higher risk of death. So telomeres also have been compared with a bomb fuse.

TELOMERES STRESS AND AGEING

For the purposes of this article, It is particularly interesting that telemere length and attrition is linked to our psychological and physiological response to stress. Geneticist Richard Cawthon and colleagues at the University of Utah found shorter telomeres are associated with shorter lives. Among people older than 60, those with shorter telomeres were three times more likely to die from heart disease and eight times more likely to die from infectious disease.

please see this link for further details:

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/chromosomes/telomeres/

During the last few years it has become evident that telomeres and telomerase are main components of the stem cell “ignition” mechanism, providing a way to restrain cancer and delay ageing (Flores and Blasco 2010) Epel and colleagues (2004) recently demonstrated that the chronicity and perceived severity of psychosocial stress (caring for a chronically ill child) was directly associated with accelerated telomere shortening. 

Flores and Blasco (2010) reported that Increased cellular turnover in the presence of stress-related oxidative damage,  exacerbates accelerated telomere shortening and ultimately causes replicative senescence and organ degeneration because stem and precursor cells can no longer replicate and maintain homeostasis (balance) 

Telemore length has also been shown to be positively correlated with quality of life. In a large biracial population-based cohort, Njajou (2009) tested the hypotheses that elderly persons with shorter Telemere Length (TL) in peripheral white blood cells have poorer survival, shorter life span, and fewer years of healthy life (YHL).  The results of this study showed that Telemore Length , was positively associated with more YHL Findings from this study suggested that although Teleomere Length may not be a strong biomarker of survival in older individuals, it may be an informative biomarker of healthy ageing. Epel et al (2004) investigated the hypothesis that stress impacts health by modulating the rate of cellular aging. Epel et al (2004) provided evidence that that psychological stress; both perceived stress and chronicity of stress, is significantly associated with higher oxidative stress, lower telomerase activity, and shorter telomere length, which are known determinants of cell senescence and longevity, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy premenopausal women. The results of their study showed that, women with the highest levels of perceived stress have telomeres shorter on average by the equivalent of at least one decade of additional aging compared to low stress women. These findings have implications for understanding how, at the cellular level, stress may promote earlier onset of age-related diseases.

Irie et al (2003) performed a cross-sectional study of 156 workers to investigate cancer risk dueto psychological stress, particularly depression, and its underlying mechanism, using a biomarker of cancer-related oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG), in human leukocytes. Interestingly, Irie et al (2003) found that there was a positive correlation between the percentage of neutrophils and the 8-OH-dG levels in females. The authors concluded that Psychological depression was related to cancer risk due to oxidative DNA damage in females, possibly via neutrophil activation.

Parks et al (2009) performed a cross-sectional study examined relative telomere length in relation to perceived stress and urinary stress hormones in a sample of 647 participants (n =647), a cohort of women ages 35 to 74 years who have a sister with breast cancer.  Women with higher perceived stress had somewhat shorter telomeres, but telomere length did not decrease monotonically with higher stress levels. Shorter telomeres were independently associated with increasing age, obesity, and current smoking. Significant stress-related differences in telomere length were seen in women ages 55 years and older those with recent major losses , and those with above-average urinary catecholamines. the authors concluded that although current perceived stress was only modestly associated with shorter telomeres in this broad sample of women, the findings from this study suggest the effect of stress on telomere length may vary depending on neuroendocrine responsiveness, external stressors, and age.

AGEING INTERVENTIONS

According to Flores and Blasco 2010, one way to preserve telomere integrity would be elongating telomeres by activating telomerase; another non-exclusive way would be inhibiting telomere attrition indirectly by slowing-down the rate of stem cell division.

The good news is that, natural interventions and drugs have been shown to activate telomerase. Specifically, physical activity, healthy diet and stress management has been proven to augment telomerase activity in middle-age men and old women  Ornish et al (2010). 

All the risk factors can be used to illustrate the elements for preventing premature ageing. Although further research is needed within this area, quite simply following a consistantly good nutrition regime,  exercise and stress reduction all come into play to prevent disease. 

REFERENCES 

http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/StressTipSheet.pdf

 Carney RM, Freeland KE, Miller GE, Jaffe AS (2002) Depression as a risk factor for cardiac mortality and morbidity: A review of potential mechanisms. Journal of Psychosomatic Research Vol 53, (4),  Pp 897–902

Epel EE,  Blackburn EH,  Lin J, Dhabhar FS,   Adler NE,   Morrow JE, 

and Cawthon RM (2004)  Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. Biological Sciences - Psychology. Vol 101: (49)

Flores I,  Blasco MA (2010) The role of telomeres and telomerase in stem cell ageing. FEBS letters Vol: 584, (17), Pp 3826–383

 Guayerbas N,  Catalán M,  Vı́ctor VM,  Miquel J, De la Fuente M (2009). The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Vol. 114: (1–2), Pp 78–84

Irie M, Asami S, Nagata, S, Miyata M, Kasa H (2001). Relationships between perceived workload, stress and oxidative DNA damage. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health.  Vol. 74 (2), Pp 153-157

Kendler KS, M.D;  Karkowski, LM and Prescott CA, Causal Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and the Onset of Major Depression. Am J Psychiatry 1999;156:837-841.

Njajou OT1, Hsueh WC, Blackburn EH, Newman AB, Wu SH, Li R, Simonsick EM, Harris TM, Cummings SR, Cawthon RM; Health ABC study(2009) Association between telomere length, specific causes of death, and years of healthy life in health, aging, and body composition, a population-based cohort study.Vol; J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. Vol 64(8):Pp860-4. 

Parks CG; Miller DB; McCanlies EC; Cawthorn RM, Andrew ME; DeRoo LA; and Sandler DP  (2009) . Telomere Length, Current Perceived Stress, and Urinary Stress Hormones in Women. Vol 18: Pp 501. Cancer Epidermiol Biomarkers.

 Simon N, Smoller JW, McNamma KL, Masser RS, Zalta AK, Pollack MK, Nierenberg AA, Fava M, Wong KK.(2006). Telomere Shortening and Mood Disorders: Preliminary Support for a Chronic Stress Model of Accelerated Aging. Biological Psychiatry . Vol 60, (5) 

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