Stress and epigenetics

I've written previously on the concept of epigenetics, the study of gene expression.  We know that for all intents and purposes, your genes do not change.  However, the little signals that tell your body when to express those genes (epigenetic signals) can be altered.  Food certainly has a powerful role in this although we do not understand all the details.  A recent paper also demonstrates that chronic stress will alter epigenetic markers.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that the markers on genes were different after mice were exposed to stress hormones.  They believe that this may have a significant role in the development of  mood disorders.  Notably, the changes were found to be long lasting.  The epigenetic changes were presents for weeks even after the hormones had been removed from their environment.  In other words, these are potentially long lasting epigenetic changes.

 

"These behaviors, which were probably advantageous earlier in evolution, aren't as useful today with modern stressors that we can't fight or flee, such as work deadlines, Potash adds. Consequently, chronic stress might instead lead to depression or other mood disorders triggered by epigenetic changes."

I spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of eating good food.  But total health requires a life style adaptation as well.  Some people believe they thrive when under pressure; we even take pride in it.  Nobody can argue that some individuals genuinely do well under chronic stress. However, we must understand that your performance (at your job, school etc.) does not necessarily correlate with your well-being.  Chronic stress comes with a price.  Much of it has been well described (HPA dysfunction, hypercortisolemia etc.) We now have evidence that even your DNA expression may be altered by stress.