Act Early Against Autism Blog

Autism Brain in Motion

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See different regions of a child's brain light up during a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan. The brain belongs to a child who lost a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder.

Autism Animation

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Jayne Lytel's Interactive Autism Feature of the Week: My son learning animation basic in summer camp and created this short movie.

a lesson on aging to heed: relieve stress

An article in today's Washington Post (Our President Our Selves: If Obama Grows Old Before His Time, Stressed-Out Cell Tips Might Be to Blame, Jan. 19, 2009), points up the importance of taking time for yourself to relieve stress. The article cites a study from the University of California at San Francisco that published results showing that mothers who cared for a chronically ill child appeared to be about 13 years older than mothers raising a healthy child.

The culprit that accelerated the aging process: telomeres, which cover the tips of cells. Each time a cell divides, telomeres shorten until they are too short for the cell to divide, which means the cell dies. Cell death can cause or contribute to some age-related diseases, such as certain cancers. Another factor blamed for shortening telomeres includes smoking.

Telomeres shorten as we age.  Scientists have known that for decades. The study draws an additional link to aging: It shows that chronic stress also shortens telomeres.

The study's conclusions should provide more support for finding stress-busters. You know better than anyone the types of activities that relieve stress for you. Exercise is always good, but often takes such a big effort to get started, especially if you don't have extra help to supervise your child, if he's not in school.

You might enjoy long walks, chatting on the telephone or in an online support group, or cooking, which can be relaxing. The activity is less important than doing something that makes you feel good about yourself and thus relieves stress.

During the height of my son's therapy program, I ran and worked out three times a week, not religiously but enough to feel its benefits. I also ate well. I didn't buy organic, but I avoided TV dinners and fast foods, whether they came from a can or the burger joint. Before my son learned to talk, I kept a speech diary of his emerging words. I read it to lift my spirits because it showed his progress. The Early Intervention Network's section on Seeking Support lists sources of support groups. I'd welcome other suggestions.