Wrinkles are natural lines or creases that form on the
skin as we age. They are caused by a combination of factors, including:
·
Loss
of collagen and elastin:
These proteins provide structure and elasticity to the skin. As we age, our
bodies produce less of these proteins, leading to sagging and wrinkling.
·
Sun
damage: Exposure to ultraviolet (UV)
rays from the sun can break down collagen and elastin, accelerating the aging
process.
·
Lifestyle
factors: Smoking, poor diet, and lack
of sleep can also contribute to wrinkles.
Wrinkles are a normal part of
aging, but there are steps you can take to minimize their appearance.
Protecting your skin from sun damage, using moisturizers, and eating a healthy
diet can help reduce the development of wrinkles.
We’ve
already seen how Aging can lead to a reduction in some of the neurotransmitters
that make us feel good and we’ve seen how this can lead to low mood as well as
impaired cognitive function. We’ve also seen how this can be mitigated both
with the right nutrient regime and with constant learning and trying new
things.
As we’ll see, hormones also play a big role in
this.
But there are other factors at play here too.
For example, there are the life-style factors that can lead many older people
to start feeling more isolated and lonely and this is further exacerbated by
pain, lack of mobility and lack of a ‘purpose’. And sadly, this creates
something of a ‘vicious cycle’. When we are robbed of our purpose and meaning,
it leaves us feel less motivated and less happy.
In turn, this leads to even more indifference,
low energy and low mood. And what you might also not recognize is just what a
huge role stress and depression can cause in Aging. Stress actually wreaks
absolute havoc on your body and can be devastating to your mood, your
self-esteem and yes, your skin. That’s when you lose your purpose, it’s when
you stop being challenged and it’s when your social structure breaks down.
So what do you do? Work well into old age? A
better alternative is to find something to do instead – something that will
give you all that structure and all that confidence but without involving so much
stress. In fact, you can look for something that will offer more variety and
more challenge. Some people will volunteer, some people will become active in
local communities.
Some people might write a book, travel the
world, or start their own side business without the worry that comes from
being financial dependent on it. In other words, keep yourself active,
keep challenging yourself to new things and throw yourself out there. Sometimes
you may not feel like it especially if energy levels are starting to wane
but it’s when you give it that it all comes collapsing around you.
How Stress Ages You
Stress is caused by a mild version of the ‘fightor flight’ response. This is the response that our bodies would have used in
the wild in order to prep us for action. This is triggered by a flood of
hormones and neurotransmitters, including the likes of dopamine,
norepinephrine, epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol. In response, our
parasympathetic nervous system preps us for battle by making our brain more focused
and triggering various physiological changes in our bodies, such
as:
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing
- Increased blood viscosity (so
that our blood would clot in response to an injury)
- Muscle contractions
- Decreased digestion
- Suppressed immune system
The immune system and digestion are suppressed
so that more blood and more resources can be directed to the brain and to the
muscles. This is a little like Captain Kirk sending all power to thrusters,
even if it means divert-ing it away from the medical bay! The context this was
designed to be used in would always be short and sharp – it would be a sudden
release of adrenaline that would allow us to get away from a predator or a
forest fire.
But today, stressors tend to last much longer
and take the form of work-place pressure, debt, relationship problems etc. When
you go for these long periods with continuous stress, the body takes a beating:
blood pres-sure is raised (because it is thicker and the heart rate is
increased), we don’t absorb all the nutrients in our food (due to that
suppressed digestion) and we become much more prone to illness.
Just as not getting enough nutrients in the diet
can lead to cumulative damage that becomes serious over time, so too can
continuous chronic stress. This also leads to an increase in oxidative damage
to the cells and can even turn you grey! Even just frowning more may be one of
the fastest ways to give yourself more wrinkles along the top of your head
right where they don’t look so great!
Stress even makes you grind your teeth, making
you more inclined to lose them later on. And stress can cause psychological
damage that might end up culminating in more serious damage over time.Want
proof? Just take a look at any president or prime minister and you’ll see that
they went grey very shortly after being elected!’
Telomeres
Now it’s time to get a little more scientific
and look at some of the real damage that stress may be able to cause.
Introducing: telomeres.
A telomere is essentially a section of ‘empty’
DNA that the body doesn’t need that is found at the end of your genes.
Sometimes this is described as being like the plastic tips at the end of
shoelaces designed to stop the shoelaces from fraying. What’s really going on,
it that every time your cells divide and reproduce via mitosis, they end up
losing a little bit of information from the ends of the DNA.
Because telomeres are unneeded, they act like a
‘buffer’. They are the first things to go and it doesn’t matter because they
don’t contain any information. But after a while, you’ll find your telomeres
‘run out’ and that’s when your actual DNA starts to be degraded.
Guess what? Studies show that the more stressed
you are, the shorter the telomeres become. And this is also true when you’re
suffering from depression. If you are very stressed at work, you will age
faster. And if you feel lonely, isolated and frustrated in an old-people’s
home, you’ll feel stressed too. The good news? As you become less stressed, you
can actually end up re-storing and rejuvenating your telomeres to some extent.
