Your Emotions and Anti-Aging

The relationship between health, longevity, emotions, and aging is of enormous interest these days. With the fast past of life, technological advances, and changes in how humans communicate, the pressure is on.

There is an enormous body of research showing that our emotional state directly affects our health and longevity.

Emotions: Impact of Aging

Younger and older adults experience emotions differently.  As we age, we are less likely to link “interoceptive sensations,” such as heart pounding, goosebumps, or muscle tension, with emotions such as anger or fear.  This effect is specific to the physical effects of various emotions rather than situations or behaviors (such as almost having an accident or being alone). These results suggest that researchers investigating the relationship between health and emotion need to carefully consider how they measure and assess emotions, and symptoms self-reported by patients.¹

Researchers also have to consider the effects based on changes in the integrity of the peripheral nervous system and how the brain processes sensory experiences.  If the peripheral nervous system contributes less to underlying experience with age, then behavior and decision-making may be negatively impacted.²

Emotions and the Brain

The Amygdala

It is well established that a positive outlook benefits your physical health. Negative emotions, in contrast, can activate a brain region known as the amygdala, which plays a role in managing your emotions.

The amygdala may be best known as the part of the brain that drives the so-called “fight or flight” response. It is commonly thought to form the core of a neural system for processing fearful and threatening stimuli. It helps regulate emotion and plays a pivotal role in memory and managing emotions mediating many aspects of emotional learning and behavior.

Chronic stress causes changes in the nerve endings in the amygdala. This, in turn, affects the hippocampus and nucleus accumbens. And, they affect underlying levels of emotions such as anxiety or depression.³

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is known to support memory, learning, navigation, and perception of space. Recent research has uncovered that in addition, when the hippocampus is targeted by signals from the amygdala under conditions of chronic stress, the two brain regions interact to translate the emotion into particular outcomes.  This understanding helps researchers “understand the brain mechanisms of emotion-regulated memories and improve clinical treatment of emotion-associated memory disorders in patients.”⁴

The Thalamus and Emotions

The thalamus relays information from the cerebral cortex, which is the brain’s outer layer, to the brain stem. It regulates both emotional and motivated behavior. For example, one part of the thalamus (paraventricular thalamus) controls a fear-reaction circuit in the amygdala – affecting both fear memory and the expression of fearful responses.⁵  Changes in nerve endings in the thalamus manifest as stress-related disorders.⁶

Prefrontal cortices

The prefrontal cortices control cognitive functions. They manage attention, impulse control, and emotional reactions. Some regions of the prefrontal cortex are critical for the creation of and modulation of negative emotions, which are displayed through its interactions with the amygdala, hippocampus, and other parts of the brain.⁷

Stress and Emotions Impact Health

Daily stressors are part of life. We deal with these and typically move on, but the chronic stress of modern life can take a toll on our physical and mental health – whether it is work-related, money, health, or challenging relationships.

Eye Health

Stress is a known risk factor for many eye diseases. Chronic stress is both a cause and a consequence of eye disease.⁸ Chronic stress can be one of the main causes of vision loss, particularly in certain forms of glaucoma and optic neuropathy.

At the same time, vision loss due to any eye condition can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety. While prolonged mental stress is clearly a consequence of vision loss, it may also aggravate the situation at least partly due to elevated cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels stress your autonomous nervous system (involuntary actions) and can result in vascular dysregulation.

Many eye diseases are connected to brain and vascular diseases. The optic nerve is, in fact, brain tissue, and the retina was created in the womb from brain cells.  Our eyes are essentially extensions of the brain.   Glaucoma is an ocular and brain neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive damage of the optic nerve head and different visual brain centers,⁹ as well as those that control emotions (which is related to the health of the amygdala).¹⁰

Healing techniques: Stress management can help activate residual vision and restoration,¹¹ which supports other vision management techniques such as vision training.¹²

There are eye doctors and vision therapists who teach vision therapy around the country. To locate one near you, go to www.oepf.org.

Mental Health

The nervous system’s ability to change its activity in response to experience and to modify, and/or adapt both structure and function throughout life is known as neuroplasticity.  Chronic stress causes loss of neuroplasticity with many consequences. Here are a few examples.

Depression

Depressive symptoms are associated with cognitive decline and may lead to more severe concerns like dementia. Depression over time can increase cortisol production, which can result in an enlargement of the amygdala and overactivity.¹³ Long-term depression can result in loss of nerve material and overall brain shrinkage.¹⁴

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was once thought to be a mental health-only condition triggered by a terrifying event, involving flashbacks, anxiety, nightmares, and erratic thoughts and behavior. However, the triggering event causes changes in the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. The amygdala displays heightened responsivity, the prefrontal cortex shrinks and is hyporesponsive, and the hippocampus is smaller, exhibits nerve damage, and is dysfunctional.¹⁵

Chronic traumatic stress can actually change the shape of the brain’s regions. Patients with PTSD have a smaller hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex volumes.¹⁶ Amygdala activity increases, and anterior prefrontal/anterior cingulate function decreases.

Lack of social support

Lack of healthy social support may influence social behavior, and social support is one of the most studied psychosocial factors in relation to health and disease, possibly resulting in mimicking symptoms of dementia.

Reducing Chronic Stress

Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine (TCM) with its 3,000-plus years of history offers great insight into energy imbalances related to health. TCM discusses emotional imbalances on their impact on health particularly related to the five elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. For example, the Wood element personality (often referred to as a “Type A personality”) is associated with anger. When the Wood element is in balance, it can provide great initiative to succeed. These people are often leaders or executives. But out-of-balance anger can, over time, result in health issues such as digestive problems, hypertension, glaucoma, migraine headaches, and anger outbursts affecting relationships. Balance is essential.

Self-Help

Change is not easy and is often quite challenging, but here are some suggestions to consider.

• • Meditation. Among those who appear more resilient and better able to hold on to positive emotions are people who have practiced various forms of meditation. Research points to the importance of certain kinds of training that can support brain wave activity in a way that will promote positive responses.
  • Exercise regularly. Increasingly, scientists are discovering that lack of adequate exercise underlies almost every human disorder.  Make a brisk walk an essential part of your daily routine.
  • Yoga. Try taking classes in yoga, Qigong, or Tai Chi.
  • EFT. The brain has the ability to retrain itself around patterns created from past traumas (neuroplasticity). The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is another powerful neuroplasticity tool as part of a recovery program.
  • Therapy. Work with a therapist with whom you feel comfortable.
  • Reduce work-related stress. If you are in a job you dislike, consider the factors that cause that dislike.  If you cannot change them, put together a plan to move on. Change takes time so be patient. It is a process of building blocks one by one which over time accumulate and eventually can provide alternative solutions.
  • Nutritional support. A balanced, nutritious diet is also important, as is taking the time to sit down and eat in a relaxed manner.
  • Retraining your brain to curb negativity works for some people.¹⁷
    • Be aware of your thoughts. Remember to breathe. Relax your body, take long slow breaths, breathing in and out from your lower abdomen.
    • Turn negatives into positives. Gather positive things in your mind that you have done well, and think of these.
    • Create a personal mantra. Create words that support you such as “I am strong and will succeed” Visualize how this looks to you.
    • Practice daily gratitude. Say some sort of thanks first thing in the morning and at bedtime, and even before each meal.
    • Switch up your environment. Try to avoid negative people.
    • Understand what triggers you. Try to be aware of these triggers and prepare some routine to get through them. Again, remember to stop and breathe when this happens.

Mood/Anxiety/Sleep Supplement Recommendations

Gaba Brain Food helps balance mood and anxiety and promotes a better night’s sleep.

SAM-e Plus 60 vcaps supports healthy joints and mood regulation.

Frankincense Essential Oil 1/3 oz helps calm the brain. It may reduce stress, indigestion, inflammation and pain, and stimulates improved blood flow to a local area.

Lavender Extra 10 ML is especially known for its soothing and calming properties.

Dr. Grossman’s REM Sleep Support (sublingual) Formula (with melatonin)

Vision Supplement Recommendations

Advanced Eye and Vision Support Formula is our whole food, organic, GMO free formula with lutein and zeaxanthin.

Dr. Grossman’s Meso Plus Retinal Support and Computer Eye Strain Formula with Astaxanthin 90 vcaps with lutein, zeaxanthin, mesozeaxanthin and astaxanthin.