
The ends of your chromosomes are sensitive to a variety of environmental factors - shawndumas
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/12/caffeine-alcohol-keeps-your-chromosomes-just-right/
======
tannerc
After working in an agency setting while trying to run several small projects
on the side, I can see why work-related stress would turn hair white and bring
about countless wrinkles prematurely.

With that said, alcohol may help to a degree, but with the stressors of
everyday life it's too easy to get carried away. For awhile I was drinking
nearly every night of the week. I would drink in an attempt to forget about
the failures of my career and the debts I had taken on as a result. Only to
find that those worries were still very realistically there the next day, and
I had lost time that would otherwise have been spent working or improving
myself, thanks to drinking.

Now, due in-part to meditation, a closer circle of friends and peer
supporters, and a lot of reading, I haven't touched more than a single beer in
two weeks. And it feels great because it allows me to get more done.

~~~
j_s
Congratulations on this change!

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bobchops
The article is misleading. Longer telomeres don't mean longer life. Telomeres
in mice are 4 times as long as those found in humans and they are particularly
susceptible to damage from oxidative stress.

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tarice
Noting that the experiments described in the article were performed on yeast,
can anybody better versed in biology convey a better idea on how applicable to
humans these results are?

As described in the article, we both have telomeres, but as far as I know the
comparison ends there.

~~~
sp332
Other research has already found an association between caffeine intake and
_lower_ incidence of cancer in humans.
[http://www.cancerletters.info/article/S0304-3835%2808%290066...](http://www.cancerletters.info/article/S0304-3835%2808%2900667-8/abstract)
So the research doesn't seem to transfer at all.

~~~
CanSpice
Well, this article states that caffeine shortens telomeres, and shortened
telomeres are a hallmark of aging. Lengthened telomeres are associated with
cancers. This seems to imply that the research done in this article (on yeast)
correlates with the research you linked.

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rsgalloway
FTA: "and alcohol (and acetic acid) lengthen [telomeres]."

funny, these findings seem to contradict this study:

"Shortened telomeres in individuals with abuse in alcohol consumption"
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21351086](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21351086)

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SheepSlapper
As someone who's addicted to both, I can't really tell if this revelation is
good, bad, or otherwise.

~~~
myth_drannon
Just drink Irish coffee and one will cancel the other's effects.

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DigitalJack
Meditation is seemingly helpful wrt telomerase.
[http://www.academia.edu/4326346/The_link_between_mindfulness...](http://www.academia.edu/4326346/The_link_between_mindfulness_self-
compassion_and_telomerase_activity_in_psoriasis_Results_from_a_controlled_MBCT_trial)

~~~
VLM
I looked at the study and everyone involved smoked and drank to some extent,
and the meditation had some improvement on depression/anxiety/worry all of
which are usually blamed for cig / booze use. At least some subjects were
likely self medicating themselves and its highly likely the semi-dramatic
change in reported attitude would lead to semi-dramatic change in self
medication. However booze/cigs use after the experiment was not charted which
is highly unfortunate.

It seems highly likely meditation reduces self-medication due to improved
mental state, and reduced self medication as per this article study has some
direct effect on telomerase. So indirectly it sounds like a believable
testable falsifiable hypothesis but its hardly been proven.

~~~
DigitalJack
I may have found the wrong study. I know of a few so I'll go back and see if
the others were better.

Edit: better study
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3057175/#S29titl...](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3057175/#S29title)

