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Depression and stress triggers early aging in women
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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In one of the latest studies, specialists have found that the body of girls who are under stress and live in a family where one of the members has suffered from depression in the past, ages faster. The connection between depressive disorders, stress and premature aging of the body has already been proven by scientists more than once.
Aging is promoted by shortened telomeres, which are located at the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres shorten with age, which leads to aging of the body. As experts have proven, the faster telomeres shorten, the faster the body ages and death occurs.
The process of telomere shortening can be accelerated by oxidative stress and other negative processes that damage the structure of DNA. At this stage, researchers cannot name the exact reason for the accelerated aging process in some people. According to experts, stress, depressive disorders, or short telomeres may be to blame.
In the course of research, in which experts tried to determine the cause of aging, the condition of about 100 girls aged 10 to 14 years was analyzed.
No signs of depression were found in the participants of the experiment, however, each of them was at risk, since one of the family members suffered from depressive disorders in the past. In addition, the specialists created a control group.
Each participant in the experiment was asked to undergo stress testing, and specialists also asked the girls about stressful situations that had occurred in their lives.
The scientists measured the girls' levels of hydrocortisone, an important catabolic hormone that is produced in response to stress. The hormone levels were measured before and after the girls underwent a stress test.
As a result, the specialists found that twelve-year-old girls who were found to have an increased risk of developing depression had shortened telomeres (equivalent to six goals). In all likelihood, a short telomere length precedes the development of depressive disorders. Also, in this category of teenagers, scientists have determined a higher reactivity of hydrocortisone in response to stress tests, which most likely leads to early aging of the body.
As other studies have shown, drinking carbonated drinks not only provokes obesity, but also accelerates the aging process of cells.
As already mentioned, life expectancy depends on the length of telomeres. The University of California studied more than five thousand volunteers aged 20 to 65 who were surveyed in 1999-2002 on health. All participants in the study did not suffer from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. During the experiment, specialists measured the length of the volunteers' telomeres and found that the length of telomeres was shorter in those who consumed large amounts of carbonated drinks. Scientists noted that drinking 0.5 liters of soda every day adds 4.6 years to cells, which can be compared to the effect of nicotine on a smoker's body.
On average, systematic training extended the life of cells by the same number of years.
Scientists also noted that short telomeres increase the risk of developing diabetes, some types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
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