Exercise to a Longer Life: Stress and Telomeres

We all believe that exercise increases health and lifespan. One of the mechanisms for this is stress reduction.

In Chinese Medicine, stress is called Qi Stagnation and it has many effects on health, but the most basic is simply that it blocks the free and easy flow of energy (or Qi) throughout the body. Why is that important and how does it relate to aging?

To use the traditional and somewhat poetic language of doctors working 2000 years ago, the answer is that where these blockages occur most densely, Blood can also be blocked -- often causing pain. Phelgm can accumulate -- causing adhesions, nodules, or tumors. Over time, the body tissues are left unnourished and begin to fail in their functions. Heat can accumulate and begin to dry the tissues and burn away the body's Vital Essence (or Jing). And loss of Jing is the definition of premature aging in Chinese Medicine, and its diminishment is the cause of the diseases of aging.

This poetic description may sound strange in our modern scientific culture, and, yet, I was struck by a similarity to a recent, very scientific research article from the University of California San Francisco discussing how stress may shorten lifespan and encourage diseases of aging – and how stress-reduction through exercise may reduce this effect.

The study focuses on telomeres, a name you probably remember vaguely from Biology classes. Telomeres cap the ends of chromosomes and are necessary for chromosomal replication. Part of the telomere is lost with each replication, limiting the lifespan and function of the cell. Apparently, other factors play a role in telomere length as well, including an enzyme (Telomerase) which replenishes telomere length. The interesting connection is that stress hormones seem to interfere with the work of telomerase, causing shorter telomeres and reducing cell life span and function. And the early death of millions of cells can result in manifold health problems.
Elissa Epel, PhD, was one of the lead investigators on this study and is an associate professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiary. She summarizes the study in a UCSF News Release:

Telomere length is increasingly considered a biological marker of the accumulated wear and tear of living, integrating genetic influences, lifestyle behaviors, and stress. Even a moderate amount of vigorous exercise appears to provide a critical amount of protection for the telomeres.

That comment about a biological marker of the accumulated wear and tear of living, which integrates genetic influence, lifestyle, and stress is a great scientific description of the state of the Jing.

Whether you look at this from the ancient Chinese perspective or that of modern scientific research, the importance of stress control is clear. The question then becomes, how do you go about reducing stress?

I consider stress reduction a primary benefit of acupuncture. I also recommend herbal formulas such as the well-known Free and Easy Wanderer (Xiao Yao Wan) – it is the most commonly prescribed Chinese Formula in the United States! Supplements to consider are Fish Oils (pharmaceutical grade, and tested for purity), high quality multi-vitamins, and antioxidants (including Glutathione support formulas). Meditation is a great choice, including Tai Chi. And, of course, the UCSF study focused on the effectivess of exercise in protecting what I call “Jing” and they call Telomere length.

Whether you use exercise, acupuncture, meditation, herbs and supplements, or laughing with friends – remember that reducing stress can lead to a healthier and longer life.

Citation: Puterman E, Lin J, Blackburn E, O'Donovan A, Adler N, et al. (2010) The Power of Exercise: Buffering the Effect of Chronic Stress on Telomere Length. PLoS ONE 5(5): e10837. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010837


Byron Russell

Exercise Makes You Less Anxious

I see this regularly with patients who come in for depression, fatigue, anxiety -- if I can talk them into regular exercise, their symptoms improve. Of course, I'm doing acupuncture and herbs at the same time. But, therapeutic movement really seems to speed the treatment. The flip side of this is that over-training, pushing the body too hard -- especially without adequate nutrition and rest -- can cause anxiety. This latter result isn't talked about but Chinese Medicine is very clear on the topic. Moderation in activities along with adequate rest and recovery time is crucial for health benefits.


This study reported in the NYTimes Blog looks at scientific research to explain why exercise reduces anxiety. In a nutshell, it seems to be that exercise induces the growth of new neurons that are less reactive to the hormonal and neurotransmitter effects of stress. And, it takes three to six weeks for these changes in the brain to begin to appear.

“Something happened between three and six weeks,” says Benjamin Greenwood, a research associate in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado, who helped conduct the experiments. Dr. Greenwood added that it was “not clear how that translates” into an exercise prescription for humans. We may require more weeks of working out, or maybe less. And no one has yet studied how intense the exercise needs to be. But the lesson, Dr. Greenwood says, is “don’t quit.” Keep running or cycling or swimming. (Animal experiments have focused exclusively on aerobic, endurance-type activities.) You may not feel a magical reduction of stress after your first jog, if you haven’t been exercising. But the molecular biochemical changes will begin, Dr. Greenwood says. And eventually, he says, they become “profound.”

Byron Russell

Moderate Exercise to Boost Immunity

Here's an an article from the New York Times describing research on the effects of exercise on the immune system. The main study involved exposing different groups of mice to the flu virus. One group had no exercise, one group moderate, and one group pushed to exercise intensely. The moderate exercise group did well, and the intense exercise group did very poorly. The results tell us about mice, but we can guess that it works the same way in people -- and certainly, I recommend only moderate exercise for my patients who are simply interested in maintaining health.

When you are an athlete in competitive training, you need to take these effects into account -- especially in focusing on having adequate recovery time and adequate nutrition to support you body's training. And, also, to note that the studies describe the negative effects of 'intense exercise' on immunity. That definition is very flexible and will depend on the person doing the exercise. If you have trained well, your capacity for healthy exercise will be greater.

The key finding in this study:

The bulk of the new research, including the mouse studies mentioned, reinforce a theory that physiologists advanced some years ago, about what they call “a J-shaped curve” involving exercise and immunity. In this model, the risk both of catching a cold or the flu and of having a particularly severe form of the infection “drop if you exercise moderately,” says Mary P. Miles, PhD, an associate professor of exercise sciences at Montana State University and the author of an editorial about exercise and immunity published in the most recent edition of the journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Review. But the risk both of catching an illness and of becoming especially sick when you do “jump right back up” if you exercise intensely or for a prolonged period of time, surpassing the risks among the sedentary. (Although definitions of intense exercise vary among researchers, most define it as a workout or race of an hour or more during which your heart rate and respiration soar and you feel as if you are working hard.)

Chinese medicine has a number of herbs that help with stamina and immunity -- like Ginseng and Reishi Mushroom. Supporting the immune system before and especially after competitive events is a great idea.


Byron Russell