Stress makes you younger?

Tim Utton|Daily Mail13 April 2012

It is blamed for shadows under eyes, extra grey hairs and even a wrinkle or two.

But stress can actually be good for you, scientists believe.

Far from accelerating the ageing process, stressful situations release a hormone in the body which helps you look and feel younger.

This hormone has the added benefit of boosting the sex drive and improving memory, according to research.

The study suggests the rapid pace of today's 24-hour society - blamed for numerous modern ills - may be more beneficial than we realise.

It could also help to explain why some deal with stress better than others. This is because some individuals produce plenty of the hormone, while others don't produce enough.

The hormone - dehydroepiandrosterone-S, or DHEA-S for short - is produced by the adrenal glands in response to stressful situations.

It helps the body and brain to function more efficiently during times of difficulty.

But it also enhances memory and boosts mood.

It can also keep skin supple, raise energy levels, keep weight down and increase libido.

In humans, levels of DHEA-S peak at around 30, and then slowly decline until they are only a quarter of this by the age of 70.

Dr Charles Morgan, of the National Centre for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Connecticut, investigated levels of DHEA-S among 25 military personnel before and after stressful episodes in their training.

Five days before the stressful scenario, blood and saliva samples were taken from the participants and DHEA-S levels measured.

The participants, whose average age was 25, also completed a survey about their feelings and how in control they felt.

During the stressful phase of the study, they were confined to a mock prisoner-of-war camp where they were 'interrogated' and experienced food and sleep deprivation.

Immediately after the 30-minute interrogation phase, blood and saliva samples were taken again, and participants asked the same questions.

Those volunteers who had higher levels of DHEA-S coped much better and were graded as giving a 'superior performance', said Dr Morgan.

He said the results suggested the levels of DHEA-S were increased by acute stress in healthy humans.

The hormone could also indicate the degree to which an individual is buffered against the negative effects of stress, he said.

'One implication of the present findings is that low DHEA-S may be associated with vulnerability to stress-induced symptoms,' he added.

The study is published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Dr Morgan said research was needed on whether giving DHEAS hormones just before a stressful event could help a person cope.

But Phillip Hodson, Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, warned against taking such supplements.

He said: 'Chronically overstressed people can learn to live on these bloodstream chemicals, constantly stimulating production until their physical system is overwhelmed and they reach " burnout".'

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