Table of Contents
To Henry and Sophie Rose,
for keeping me forever young.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My thanks first to the scientists who generously opened up their worldsand their labsto me, sharing their remarkable research, tirelessly answering my questions, and drawing pictures to bring this or that physiological mechanism to life. I dont have room to name all of them here, so I will limit myself to those whose work launched this book. I trust that the dozens of others will know how grateful I am for their enthusiasm for this project and for trusting me to translate their complex discoveries for the wider public.
I am indebted to Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Elissa S. Epel, and Jue Lin at the University of California, San Francisco, not just for lighting the fire that sparked this book, but also for their continued encouragement, numerous leads (to papers and colleagues), and patience in breaking down even the most difficult concepts. Calvin B. Harley, a pioneer in telomere biology, provided historical insight. Thank you to Robert M. Sapolsky at Stanford University; Bruce S. McEwen at the Rockefeller University; Mary F. Dallman, professor emeritus at UCSF; Cheryl D. Conrad at Arizona State University; Sonia Lupien at the University of Montreal; and UCLAs Teresa E. Seeman and Shelley E. Taylor, for giving me the scientific foundation necessary to understand the new science of stress, as well as continuing to push the envelope themselves with their current research. Judith Campisi and Gordon J. Lithgow, both at Californias Buck Institute for Age Research, gave me new perspective on the telomere story, as did the University of Washingtons Matt R. Kaeberlein and the University of Michigans Richard A. Miller.
Writing a book can be quite a stressful experiencein both the good and bad sense of the word. I know firsthand how the support of friends and family goes a terrifically long way in counteracting the latter. My heartfelt thanks to Brad Mindich and the Boston Phoenix for providing me with a room of my own at an incredibly difficult time. To my oldest friends: Susan Lewin, whose wisdom inspired me and who caught me when I fell. To Beverly Ehrich, Bonnie Piegari, Sue Cahn, and Amy Faxon, who showed me how resilient I can be. To my writer/editor friends, who read drafts of chapters and helped me maintain much-needed perspective: Jane Dornbusch, Emily Terry, Lisa Fowler,q Maureen Dezell, Leigh Buchanan, Susan Senator, Beth Teitell, and Sasha Helper. And deep thanks, too, to David H. Freedman, who, with several books under his belt, offered guidance from the beginning, and to George Johnson, Amanda Cook, and Bill Patrick, all of whom, at the eleventh hour, pulled me through.
I offer a special thanks to my agent, Liza Dawson, who believed in me as a book author more than I believed in myself, and continues to nurture that possibility. Much gratitude to Hudson Street Press, for plucking my article on Liz and Elissas studies out of O, The Oprah Magazine and asking me to expand it into a book, and then shepherding the project through. I could not have pulled together the myriad details in these pages without the razor-sharp skills of Jackie Houton, Dara Steinberg, and Linda Kinstler. I owe a debt of gratitude to Elena Vizvary, Lindsey Vizvary Galveo, Ricky Galveo, and Sam Einhorn, who meticulously checked every fact in this book for nothing more than lattes and a home-cooked meal, and to Connie Procaccini, who turned around miles of taped interviews in record time.
Thank you, too, to all those in my life who kept the chaos at bay, enabling me to concentrate on researching and writing, including Joe Depa, Marvin Brainin, Rochelle Friedman, Carol Gross, and the Elizabeths of Gabriels.
Finally, a huge thanks to my family: my sisters Paula and Candy, my stepdaughter, Lexi, and my two loves: Henry and Sophie. The last two spent too many hours without me as I slaved away in my basement hovel and took over the family room with my endless stacks of papers and books. I am grateful for your forbearance, for cheering me on, and for keeping me fed.
FOREWORD
Can chronic stress age us? The clues for answering that question are finally all in one place and together they tell a compelling story. Thea Singer has synthesized the disparate scientific literatures on stress and aging, and the conclusion is intriguing: Stress is the new biological clock (that is the real title of this book!). But exactly how does stress speed the clock up, or, better yet, how might we turn it back?
This is a scholarly work hidden underneath a breezy, funny conversation about life and how our bodies work. The title is, of course, the publishers way of getting you to open this book. It worked, didnt it?
There are many books about stress, but this is the only one I know of that drills down so deeply into mechanistic studies, and at the same time widely covers the most important ways that stress targets the body and mind. Thea Singer takes us into the labs and minds of scientists across the globe to show us how it all works, especially explaining how stress is relevant to aging.
This book covers a topic I am obsessed with: telomeresthe very tips of our chromosomes, and a marker of cell aging. It describes some of our research groups studies on how stress may affect telomeres, leading to their shortening. So I may be biased in my enthusiasm for the topic. But as you will see, telomeres are both fascinating and important to human health and aging, and we are even developing a company to measure telomeres.
In this book, you will be taken through fifty years of stress research, and delve into some of the most interesting new discoveries. We researchers tend to be, by nature and by the politics of funding, stuck in our own disciplines, narrowly focusing on one aspect of stress. Thea Singer is meticulous about getting the science accurate, making it understandable, and connecting it with the other studies, knitting together the fabric of the stress-aging field. In fact, she uncovers connections that even most researchers did not see.
Hear snippets of real lives, experiments, and some solid tips on what to do to prevent stress damage to your body and mind. Dont expect a new diet or quick fixes. Rather, expect to never view your body, and specifically the mind-body connection, the same again.
Chronic, ongoing stress can be toxic to our bodies. Yet these effects can be invisible for years and years. Many of us are so used to living with high stress levels that we arent even aware that our bodies are under stressand that our biological aging is speeding far ahead of our chronological age.
Stress science is inevitably complex. While there is a lot of media coverage on the negative effects of stress, there is little explanation of the why. Stress researchers spend their time understanding the complexity, and many are loathe to make statements to the press that simplify and potentially mislead. Thea Singer explains complex mechanistic studies that the media cant bear to summarize, given the short sound bites they are allotted.
You may ask: Do I have time to read about this complexity? Your hands are likely full managing your stressful life. But then ask yourself: Can I afford not to? This book gives you the opportunity to become a stress expert, not just by living the stress of life, but by understanding good versus bad stress, and applying the knowledge to your own daily life. If you dare, you can assess your own life stressas well as your attitudes and behaviors driving that stressby taking the scientifically validated tests within this book. These self-assessments make the book deeply personal. Your new awareness of the hidden sources and effects of stress may be stressful itself, but in the end it will be empowering. If you really understand, for example, what sleep debt is doing to your brain, hormones, and gut, you just might prioritize sleep more.
