The Telomere Effect

Outline

The Telomere Effect (2017) explains the science of telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes that shorten as we age. Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel show how stress, sleep, diet, exercise, and relationships can affect telomere health and the speed at which our cells age. The book offers practical, research-based steps for living a longer, healthier life.

• Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, and they shorten as we age.
• Stress can affect telomere health and the speed at which our cells age.
• Sleep, diet and exercise all play a part in how well telomeres hold up over time.
• Relationships also influence telomere health, so social life is part of healthy ageing.
• The book offers practical, research-based steps for living a longer, healthier life.

Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel bring together groundbreaking biology and health psychology. Blackburn is an Australian-American molecular biologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009 for her discoveries about telomeres. Epel is an American health psychologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who studies stress and ageing.