This document defines stress and examines its effects on aging. It discusses Hans Selye's pioneering work developing the concept of stress. While stress has no agreed-upon definition, it outlines Selye's definition as the "rate of wear and tear on the body". The document reviews studies finding a connection between chronic distress/stress and accelerated aging, as measured by shorter telomere length. High perceived stress is associated with lower telomerase activity and more rapid cell aging.

1. Stathis Grigoropoulos
May 2012
Utrecht Universiteit

2. 



Introduction
Definition Of Stress
Stress and Aging
Conclusion

3. 
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!

4. 
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]

5. 

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

6. 
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)

7. 
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

8. 

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]

9. Stressor
G. A. S.
3 Stages:
1. Alarm
2. Resistance
3. Exhaustion
Healthy Adaptation or Illness

10. 
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

11. 
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

13. 


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]

14. TTGGGG
Replication
Replication
Replication

15. TR
Replication
Telomerase
TERT

16. 
Bottom Line :
Low telomerase levels
Shrinkage of cells(telomere)
Death of cells
Accelerated Aging

17. 
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

18. Results: A) Telomere Length B) Telomerase levels

19. 


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

20. Results Revisited: Perceived Stress Diagram

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

22. 





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!!!

23. THANK YOU!

24. Questions?

25. [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 201204-29.
[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 201204-29.
[9]http://www.pnas.org/content/suppl/2004/11/22/0407162101.DC1/07162SuppText.ht
ml, supporting text of Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress.
Retrieved 2012-04-29.