Stress and Aging*

Abstract

The experimental “aging” exemplified in the progeria‐like syndrome (induced by dihydrotachysterol, DHT, in rats) is not the cause but the consequence of disturbed calcium metabolism. Certain anabolic steroids can prevent the loss of body weight (protein) and the abnormal tissue calcification. Moreover, steroidal substances designated “catatoxic” have been found to play a role in adaptive reactions, particularly the maintenance of resistance to stress. Thus the anti‐DHT effect of the steroids is not due to their antimineralocorticoid or anabolic action, but to their catatoxic (antitoxic) potency. An experimental biochemical disease model—the “Electrolyte‐Steroid‐Cardiopathy with Necrosis” (ESCN)—was developed to demonstrate a typical pluricausal disease in which several factors operate conjointly to produce a lesion. Glucomineralo‐corticoids plus sodium salts were outstanding factors in the production of cardiac necrosis. This experimental necrosis could be prevented by KCl or MgCl2. However, oral administration of KCl has many drawbacks for the prophylaxis or treatment of myocardial infarction; more convenient and lasting methods of providing potassium are needed. Certain catatoxic steroids also were found to be efficacious in preventing ESCN. These data may eventually help in finding ways to combat spontaneous aging. Aging has no specific cause. Body hormones and numerous other factors play decisive roles.

A New Glucocorticoid Hypothesis of Brain Aging: Implications for Alzheimers Disease

“…Further, the extensive studies of Selye on the stress response had *Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Molecular and Biological Pharmacology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 800 Rose Street, MS-310, Lexington, Kentucky, 40536, USA; Tel: (859) 323-3711; E-mail: pwland@uky.edu led to the proposal that stress could accelerate certain aspects of aging [8]. At that point, little was known about normal aging of the brain and about whether and how GCs acted on the brain.…”

Precocity Predicts Shorter Life for Major League Baseball Players: Confirmation of McCann's Precocity-Longevity Hypothesis

“…Although the causal relationship(s) between early career success and shorter life spans remain(s) to be clarified, McCann's (2001McCann's ( , 2003 suggestion that premature death of early achievers is in some way related to stress (cf. Selye, 1970) is a reasonable working hypothesis. In this regard, the early fame that comes with debuting at younger ages in professional sport may be aversive and stressful (cf.…”

Effects of ageing populations on individual and global sustainable development: a biodemographical perspective

“…However, individuals are perpetually exposed to stress, o r a non-homeostatic environment (Seyle, 1970). Many theories support the notion that an individual's response to stress, whether through its genetic capacities or somatic repair and maintenance, are responsible for the heterogeneity of individual lifespans (Lithgow and Kirkwood, 1996).…”