Chromosomal Processes in Mind-Body Medicine: Chronic Stress, Cell Aging, and Telomere Length.
Author: Esch T1, Kream RM2, Stefano GB2
Affiliation:
1School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Institute for Integrative Health Care, Witten, Germany.
2Department of Psychiatry, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and General University Hospital in Prague, Center for Cognitive and Molecular Neuroscience, Prague, Czech Republic.
Conference/Journal: Med Sci Monit Basic Res.
Date published: 2018 Sep 17
Other:
Volume ID: 24 , Pages: 134-140 , Special Notes: doi: 10.12659/MSMBR.911786. , Word Count: 133
Stress affects cellular aging and inflammatory and chromosomal processes, including telomere length, thereby potentially compromising health and facilitating disease onset and progression. Stress-related diseases and strategies to manage stress usually require integrative or behavioral therapeutic approaches that also operate on cellular levels. Mind-body medicine (MBM) uses the interaction between the mind, body, behavior, and the environment to correct physical and psychological malfunctions, thus ameliorating disease states and improving health. The relaxation response (RR) is a physiological opponent of stress and the stress response (SR) (i.e., fight-or-flight response), also invoking molecular anti-stress processes. Techniques that elicit the RR are at the core of practically all MBM interventions. We surmise that these techniques can also affect chromosomal and telomere processes, molecular aging, and the modulation of inflammatory states on cellular levels.
PMID: 30220704 DOI: 10.12659/MSMBR.911786
BACK
