The Correlation Between Corticosterone Levels And Telomere Length In Rats

From the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh to Ponce de Leon seeking the “Fountain of Youth” to the widely practiced taboo of drinking urine in middle-eastern countries, the world refuses to accept the process of aging. It was not until recently that researchers discovered the “blueprints” of aging, or in other words, Telomeres. Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes. Telomeres are an essential part of cells that affect how our cells age. Current research on cellular division has highlighted the significance of Telomeres in the aging process and the revealing of an individual’s molecular age. However, new studies have found that there is more to Telomere shortening and aging than cellular division such as lifestyles. Lifestyles also play a big role in Telomere shortening and a rapid aging process. Research has shown the use of tobacco and heavy drinking will results in a faster rate of telomere shortening. One lifestyle that is frequently overlooked but is responsible for consuming an individual’s lives is stress. The majority of times stress is seen as a psychological problem and often not taken seriously due to the little effect it may have on the human body. Therefore, the impact stress has on telomeres is rarely looked at which could lead to a misleading molecular age