STRESS II

Stathis GrigoropoulosMay 2012

Utrecht Universiteit

Contents Introduction Definition Of Stress Stress and Aging Conclusion

Introduction Q: What is stress?

◦ If we asked the audience we would get different answers

ME: I have bad habits!◦ Smoking◦ Drinking◦ Not much physical exercise

Q: Do you believe I have those habits to relieve stress or those habits produce more stress?( cause or effect?)

Q: Why some people go into the back of a roller coaster ride and other to the front?◦ The physical forces and experience are exactly the

same!

Definition Of Stress

Elasticity, the property of a material that allows it to resume its original size and shape after having been compressed or stretched by an external force. Hooke’s Law of 1658[1]

Definition Of Stress

There is NO Definition for  biological or psychological Stress !!!

Hans Selye (1950)[2], pioneer endocrinologist, came up with the word Stress, trying to describe STRAIN on the body

Numerous experiments on rats◦ subjected to acute but different noxious physical and emotional

stimuli (blaring light, deafening noise, extremes of heat or cold, perpetual frustration)

◦ Results always the same[3]:

(changes of stomach ulcerations)Stomach knot, Diarrhea

Adrenaline increase Dry mouth, Sweating(enlargement of the adrenals) (shrinkage of lymphoid tissue)

Definition of Stress

Definition Of Stress Stress quickly was wrongly connected to

unpleasant threats or bad experiences[4]◦ Bad boss◦ Financial Difficulties◦ Personal injury 

Stress was wrongly interpreted as the result of unpleasant experience[5]◦ chest pain ◦ heartburn◦ headache

Definition Of Stress Stressor : ...a demand placed on the body

that requires adjustment and brings about the stress reaction. The stimulus. The cause.

Stress : The response of the body. The effect◦ General Adaptation Syndrome(G.A.S)[6]

G. A. S.3 Stages:

1. Alarm

2. Resistance

3. Exhaustion

Healthy Adaptation or Illness

Definition Of StressStressor

Eustress: Good stress ( eu = ευ = Greek word for good) Eustress or positive stress occurs when your level of stress is high enough to motivate you to move into action to get things accomplished.◦Examples

In Human Relationships where you can offer Winning a race you are prepared for Taking an exam your prepared for

Categories of Stress

Disstress: Bad stress Distress or negative stress occurs when your level of stress is either too high or too low and your body and/or mind begin to respond negatively to the stressors.◦Examples

In Human Relations where you CANNOT offer Winning a race you are NOT prepared for Taking an exam your NOT prepared for

Categories of Stress

Categories of Stress

Selye struggled unsuccessfully all his life to find a satisfactory definition of stress. he redefined stress as "The rate of wear and tear on the body".

This is actually a pretty good description of biological aging so it is not surprising that increased stress can accelerate many aspects of the aging process. 

Recent studies establish connection of chronic disstress and telomere(?) function[7]

Stress and Aging

Replication

Replication

Replication

Telomeres shorten as cells divide[8]TTGGGG

Stress and Aging

Stress and Aging

Replication

Telomerase allows DNA (telomere) length equilibrium maintenance.

Enzyme that acts as a template to correct broken DNA

Telomerase

TR

TERT

Bottom Line :

Low telomerase levels

Shrinkage of cells(telomere)

Death of cells

Accelerated Aging

Stress and Aging

The Method: examined 58 healthy premenopausal women who were biological mothers

◦ The “control” mothers - Low Stress group Healthy child

◦ The “caregiving” mothers – High Stress group chronically ill child

Stress and Aging

Stress and AgingResults: A) Telomere Length B) Telomerase levels

Something is missing!!! How did they define and measure stress???? Hypothesis, division of stress in two

categories[9]◦ Perceived Stress

Measured by a standardized questionnaire ◦ Objective Stress

Measured by the chronicity of the illness of the child caregiver group status (i.e., autism, neurological

disorders) Applied only in the caregiving group

Stress and Aging

Stress and AgingResults Revisited: Perceived Stress Diagram

Stress and Aging

Results:•The higher the stress factor the lower the telomere length• Diamond control group• Circle caregiving group

Connection of chronic disstress and aging established, along with poor heath indices

Since there is no definition of stress, there is no proper measurement method

The amount of stress and how we perceive the same stressor differs in each of us

“the sense of having little or no control is always distressful” (Paul Rosch)

 "Everyone knows what stress is, but nobody really knows.“(Salye)

I must quit bad habits!!!

Conclusion

THANK YOU!

Questions?

[1] Walter Lewin (1 October 1999) (in English) (ogg). Hook's Law, Simple Harmonic Oscillator. MIT Course 8.01: Classical Mechanics, Lecture 10. (videotape). Cambridge, MA USA: MIT OCW. Event occurs at 1:21–10:10. Retrieved 29 April 2012. "...arguably the most important equation in all of Physics."

[2] "Hans Selye". Encyclopædia Britannica (2008 ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. Retrieved 2012-04-29.

[3] "A Syndrome Produced by Diverse Nocuous Agents" - 1936 article by Hans Selye from The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences

[4] http://www.stress.org/topic-definition-stress.htm, what is stress, AIS. Visited 2012-04-29.

[5] http://stresseraser.com/srms-month-11-dr-paul-rosch/, interview of Paul Rosch, President of AIS(audio)(mp3). Retrieved 2012-04-29.

[6] The General Adaptation Syndrome and the Diseases of Adaptation, Hans Salye,17-09-1945.[7] Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress Elissa S. Epel*†, Elizabeth

H. Blackburn‡, Jue Lin‡, Firdaus S. Dhabhar§, Nancy E. Adler*, Jason D. Morrow¶, and Richard M. Cawthon, PNAS, 28-09-2004

[8] http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/Science/nobelprizelaureatesbyyear.htm

Powerpoint Lectures by Nobel Laureates at Supercourse www.pitt.edu/~super1 . Retrieved 2012-04-29.

[9]http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2004/11/22/0407162101.DC1/07162SuppText.html, supporting text of Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. Retrieved 2012-04-29.

References