This is How Stress Leads to Aging

Interviewer: Doctor, we've talked about stress I think in the past, but canyou explain. We all feel it probably every single day to some degree. Whatis that doing? How does our body respond to that when we're in the middleof those situations?Doctor: Well, we were programmed genetically to be able to fight or fleefrom something really adverse and the biological mobilization to do that ishumongous. It's enough for us to run or fight it, saber tooth tiger.Interviewer: Mm-hmm.Doctor: Women have been known to lift up cars off their children.Interviewer: Mm-hmm.Doctor: The juices that are involved that mobilize our heart ourcirculation our muscles, they're beautiful. It's amazing response. Theissue is that that same response will be triggered even if the threat isn'timminent even if it's something in our mind or our emotions. The exact samebiological response is triggered and if you do that day in and day out forall kinds of reasons, only a small fraction of which are really imminentconcerns that need to be addressed. We just . . . and when we're young wepush out a lot of juices to be able to do that and then as time goes on wecan't keep up with that.So, one of the hallmarks of growing older happens to be an abnormal thingcalled the overall depletion of all our power juices, all of our hormones,all of our neurotransmitters are involved in that mobilization. It's whypeople look old and are low in energy and are tired and you know, the verythings we like the least about aging are primarily driven by that stressresponse. There's other factors as you know so well that relate to health.Interviewer: Mm-hmm.Doctor: But the loss of those power juices by the decline of the abilityfor the adrenal glands, the gonads, the thyroid to keep putting them out .. .Interviewer: Mm-hmm.Doctor: . . . at the levels we're demanding of them. Well, we pay for it byreally low levels and one of the things that I've done so much of in mycareer is do state of the art testing of hormone levels andneurotransmitter levels and I can tell you about older people. Theirnumbers are low, astoundingly low. Sometimes I look at them, I wonder, howare they walking and talking?Interviewer: Mm-hmm. So, is it a case of some of those organs that producethose power juices like you mentioned just getting overworked?Doctor: Well, yes. Exactly. They just can't keep up with the demand. Justlike when you're 12 and 24 you can run fast . . .Interviewer: Mm-hmm.Doctor: . . . and jump high and then why can't you do that at 60 and 80?Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Doctor: Because you don't have the muscle strength. You don't have themetabolism to be able to produce the energy to do that. We just decline asthe mileage increases. Doesn't have to. The most fascinating thing about itis that it's primarily a dysfunctional response to our own thoughts and ourown emotions. There are stressful events in our life.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Doctor: That's not going to change in our lifetime, but the thing that isso important in the whole thing is not the stress that we're encountering.It's how we're internally responding. If we were all fully awakened, fullyenlightened, we'd be able to recognize the stuff that okay, it's a big dealbut you know, I don't want to lose any sleep over it.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Doctor: If you actually have just a spectacular reaction, non-reaction tothe stress, you don't trigger the biology.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Doctor: But if you're sitting there worrying about cash flow and how yourrelationships are doing and your thoughts are elsewhere, that's verychallenging to the human body and enlists this exact same stress response.So, the key to the highway and all of this work is understanding your ownmind and your own emotions enough that you disengage the biology of thestress response from the stressful events, external or internal that youencounter.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Doctor: How do you do that?

Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

Doctor: That's really what this is about.