People with mood disorders (depression, bipolar) in this study were found to have telomeres shorter by the equivalent of 10 years of aging.
This should prompt major medical attention and intervention.
Telomeres are the tips of chromosomes (DNA), and they get shorter as we get older and cells divide. Telomerase is the enzyme that repairs these tips and has such potential to repair age or disease-related damage. Discovery of telomerase earned three biochemical researchers the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Elizabeth Blackburn, below, was one of the Nobel winners.
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My guess would be the stress of having the illness, being low SES, being surrounded by other people who stress you...being more likely to smoke. Lots of reasons for people with mental illness to have shorter telomeres.
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