Stress May Promote Aging of Cells

Chronic psychological stress is associated with accelerated shortening of the caps, called telomeres, on the ends of chromosomes in white blood cells -- and thus hasten their demise. Telomeres promote chromosome stability, Dr. Elissa S. Epel at the University of California, San Francisco, and her colleagues explain. Telomeres shorten with each replication of the cell, and cells cease dividing when telomeres shorten sufficiently.