Where we live can affect our DNA.

my kind of neighborhood

Where we live may make us old? We know that having stress makes us old. Having depression and anxiety ages us. We see these factors as we measure the ends of our DNA or telomere length, our TL. Each time ourselves reproduce our cells the TL gets shorter. It is one of the measures of aging and death.

I am primarily looked at lifestyle changes and battling cancer, diabetes in cardiovascular diseases which includes strokes. To have a balanced hea

lth perspective we have to keep growing mentally, spiritually, socially and physically basically having a heart health lifestyle. In our relationships with people and God when they are positive and good we are healthier. When we are mentally active we are directly impacting how we age. Stress related to mental illness,  work, and at home effects are health. So health is always more then diet and exercise. How we experience life emotionally is a very big factor.

I think this is the first time I am writing about where we live as a factor. 

The Netherlands study of depression and anxiety is a long-term study still going on. They wanted to look at neighborhood quality and how it affected our TL. This stated their hypothesis was “a poor neighborhood quality would be associated with shortened TL.” Their study factored in many stressors which we already know change our TL. Other studies will have to be done to verify their hypothesis. They cited a couple studies done in the United States that supported their conclusions.

Neighborhoods that experienced vandalism and where people felt unsafe walking aged in their DNA 8.7-11.9 years then people who have good neighborhoods with little vandalism and felt safe walking. Security and a place where you feel good is huge concerning the health. 

We are up to date in our battle for health and lifestyle changes. Many people if they are able move to favorable locations. But there are many people who either are unable or unaware of the impact a neighborhood on our health. Do you feel safe? Are there a lot of dangerous activity around you? How does this affect you?

When you're thinking about a healthy lifestyle you have to factor stress. Other studies that I've looked at suggest 25% of us experience depression that is severe enough to be hospitalized at the age 63. Proverbs 21:9 “Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,

than in a house shared with a contentious woman.” Stress of a mate can be draining regardless of the sex of the mate. Stress in relationships have been shown to shorten the TL in our DNA. If our neighborhood is causing stress then we must do what we can to address it. 

Noise apparently was not a factor. Be safe walking by walking the dog or with a friend. Walk in safe locations. If you don’t feel secure in your homethen do what you can to relocate. Write politicians about your concerns and the impact on your health. With health there is always something that we can work on. Keep walking

see: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/bad-neighborhoods-may-be-bad-for-your-dna/?ref=health&_r=0

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0128460