Why do people seem to show different ages even though they are the same age? How do some people appear dynamic and energetic at an advanced age, while others, much younger, appear tired, fatigued, exhausted? An answer to these questions has been sought for millennia, probably ever since man has developed the ability to count the years and compare himself to others.
According to some, the aging process is totally out of our control, determined by nature even before it is born. The ancient Greeks proposed the myth of the Moira to represent the ineluctability of destiny, three female figures who decided the fate of newborns in the days immediately following birth. The Moiras stretched a thread and decided to cut it at a certain height: that height determined the longevity of the baby. This idea is partly supported even today, albeit with greater scientific rigor. According to some scholars, our living conditions depend on the genetic makeup with which we are born. In other words,our genes are able to contribute to determining the greater or lesser risk of suffering from cardiovascular disorders, tumors and other health problems , influencing our longevity before we are even born.
Only our genes can determine our quality of life
The position that “genes are our destiny” is not the only one, but it is opposed to another position, according to which well-being is mainly influenced by one’s lifestyle . According to this second perspective, it would therefore be the healthy daily habits to positively influence and increase the well-being and longevity of the person.
In reality, these are not two opposing and irreconcilable perspectives, since one complements the other . Nature and habits of life have equal importance, there is not one aspect that prevails over the other, as the difference is made by the interaction between the two . Both are essential: aging rhythms depend on the mutual influence between genes, social relationships, environment, lifestyle, experiences and adaptability to change. This means that we are born with a predetermined genetic organization, but the way we live can affect how our genes express themselves . In some cases, lifestyle factors can “turn on” or “turn off” our genes.
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Telomeres: what they are
Important international discoveries show that we can even act on the genetic heart of the cell, on chromosomes . This is where the telomeres, which form their terminal part, are found.
Telomeres contain repeating DNA and allow you to determine how quickly cells age and die, based on how quickly they deplete. In other words, the shorter the telomeres in length, the faster the cell aging process .
Telomeres and depression: what relationship
From several studies, a close relationship emerges between the onset of some significant life disorders or problems and the shorter length of telomeres. In particular, research in recent years has shown a significant association between depression and telomere length. In meta-analysis studies, Ridout and colleagues (2016; 2018) confirmed the results of several studies showing that the onset of the pathology is associated with shorter telomeres. From a recent study by Vance et al. (2018), it was found that a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder is predictive of a shortening of the telomeres in the following two years. This result remained unchanged even when controlling for various factors, such as age, sex and body mass index.
The extraordinary discovery, however, is that telomeres can also lengthen, not just shorten , and consequently the aging process can also be accelerated, slowed down or, in some respects, even reversed.
