STRESS HORMONE AGES YOUR HEART

WHILE we tend to associate age with declinormones ing hormone levels, some hormones rise.

Cortisol, the stress hormone, is one of these. Levels may go up because as we age, our bodies suffer greater inflammation and tissue damage, signalling ‘stress’ to the body — and cortisol is the body’s way of protecting us in emergencies by boosting metabolism, rais-suppressing ing blood-sugar levels and suppressing the immune system ready for fight or flight.

Karen Chapman, professor of molecular

endocrinology at the University of Edinburgh, says: ‘Raised cortisol levels may contribute to muscle wasting and decline in brain and nerve function in older people.’

Too much cortisol can damage the immune system and lead to premature ageing of the vascular system and skin, and reduce life expectancy — it also seems to play a role in osteoporosis, adds Ashley Grossman, professor of endocrinology at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism.