How Long Is Your Telomere?

If you could find out just how long you will live, would you?  Would you think childhood stress could impact your longevity?

We aren’t there yet but there are good indicators hanging out on the end of your chromosomes called telomeres.  The website learn.genetics explains telomeres this way  -- “Telomeres have been compared with the plastic tips on shoelaces, because they keep chromosome ends from fraying and sticking to each other, which would destroy or scramble an organism's genetic information.  Yet, each time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter. When they get too short, the cell can no longer divide; it becomes inactive or "senescent" or it dies. This shortening process is associated with aging, cancer, and a higher risk of death.  So telomeres also have been compared with a bomb fuse.”  http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/basics/telomeres/

What else can affect telomeres?  Research now says childhood traumas like abuse and loss could be linked to faster cellular aging in adults who had experienced traumatic stresses as kids. Those individuals appeared to have an increased risk of shorter telomeres.  

We often say the children are our future, but how well we do by our children could well dictate their medical future.