Severe emotional strain makes the body age faster, according to scientific tests on extremely stressed people. Internationally-renowned Australian biochemist Professor Elizabeth Blackburn has revealed new research into the links between stress and ageing in a Melbourne lecture delivered tonight.
The US-based scientist discovered a special enzyme, telomerase, which is pivotal in the ageing process.
It works by protecting the end of chromosomes, called telomeres, which gradually wear away in normal ageing.
In a new study, Prof Blackburn and her team at the University of California have found that severely stressed people have extreme “wear and tear” to their telomeres.
They tested their hypothesis with controlled studies involving dementia carers and a mother who looked after her disabled child for long periods.
“In the long-term, in situations such as where a mother is caring for a child with a disability or a carer is looking after an old person with dementia, that constant high stress level leads to the telomere being shortened,” Prof Blackburn said.
“If the telomere is run down, the cell will stop operations and will not self-renew.
“The shortening of the telomeres appears to be over and above what would normally happen in the natural course of ageing.”
The researchers also found diminished levels of the enzyme in people with heart disease risks.
Prof Blackburn has won a series of high profile accolades for her research into telomerase, including the Lasker Award, which has historically put recipients in line for a Nobel Prize.
The award, bestowed last October, also commended Prof Blackburn for speaking out against the “politicisation” of medical research.
The scientist was controversially dismissed from US President George W Bush,s Council on Bioethics over her insistence that council,s reports should be protected from the influence of politics.
Prof Blackburn gave a lecture at the Monash University in Melbourne tonight.
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