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Adrenaline May Damage DNA
Thelasko writes "Ever wonder why heads of statetend to age twice as fast as the rest of us? New research shows that adrenaline may damage DNA, potentially accelerating aging."
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Yeah it sounds really obvious, until you realize they're figuring out the actual biochemical mechanism behind it. Stress also increases the chance of heart disease and cancer. P53 (or specifically its failure) is also involved in many cancers.
It looks like useless research on the surface, for the lay person. But when you dig into it you realize that if you can map out the biochemical pathway, you can think about designing drugs to block certain parts of it - resulting in prolonged life or decreases tumor incidence, for example. Stuff like this actually is important.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.