Researchers have theorized that telomeres are the key to immortality. And linking telomeres--protective caps at the ends of chromosomes--to lifespan is a Holy Grail of anti-aging research. A Nobel prize has already been awarded for research showing that chronic stress (such as taking care of a partner with dementia) is associated with shortened telomeres. And now along comes this intriguing new finding from the Kaiser Permanente Research Program on Genes, Environment and Health.
Heavy drinking was associated with shorter telomeres, which increases the risk of dying.
Reporting at the November 8 annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, Kaiser Permanente researchers measured telomere length in an unusually large sampling of 110,266 people in northern California, and found that the 10 percent of people with the shortest telomeres had a more than 20 percent higher risk of dying than people with longer telomeres.
The increased death risk is about the same as for people who drink 20 to 30 alcoholic beverages per week or smoke for 20 to 30 years according to an article published at ScienceNews.org.
So how do you coddle your Telomeres? The researchers report people who smoked or drank heavily were more likely to have shorter telomeres, and higher levels of education were associated with longer telomeres. Previous research has linked chronic stress to shorter telomeres. Specifically, the tendency to anticipate high levels of stress from an impending stressful event, such as public speaking, has been associated with shortened telomeres.
If living a virtuous, low-stress life is not of interest, some can take comfort in knowing they have longer telomeres by virtue of their genes. In the current research, African-Americans tended to have longer telomeres than European-Americans, Latinos or Asians.
As always, health starts with genes and evolves as a result of behavior.