The Telomere Effect Quotes

“Genes load the gun, and environment pulls the trigger.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such an achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. —Albert Einstein, as quoted in the New York Times, March 29, 1972”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“Remember, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Don’t be too timid or squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“To an extent that has surprised us and the rest of the scientific community, telomeres do not simply carry out the commands issued by your genetic code. Your telomeres, it turns out, are listening to you. They absorb the instructions you give them. The way you live can, in effect, tell your telomeres to speed up the process of cellular aging. But it can also do the opposite.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“LITTLE ADVERSITY CAN BE PROTECTIVE There is usually no upside to serious childhood adversity, just suffering and greater risk for depression and anxiety later in life. Shorter telomeres, too. Moderate adversity in childhood, however, can be healthy. Adults who report having a few—but just a few—adverse experiences in their youth have healthy cardiovascular responses to stress. Their hearts pumped more blood and got them ready to face the situation; in other words, they experienced a vigorous challenge response. They felt excited, invigorated—so perhaps their early experiences had given them confidence in their ability to overcome obstacles. People with no adverse events actually did worse. They felt more threatened, with more vasoconstriction in their peripheral arteries. (Meanwhile, those who had experienced the most severe adversity had excessive threat reactivity.)25 We are not prescribing a dose of adversity for any child, just pointing out that it is common. If it happens in a moderate amount, and if the child has enough support to cope with it, there may be a benefit. Teaching children how to cope well with stress (versus protecting them from all disappointments) is the key. As Helen Keller said, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“Avoid negative stress, such as toxic relationships in which you know there will be conflict, unrealistic deadlines, and other situations in which you will not get enough sleep or be able to eat well for days.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“air-purifying billboards.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“los extremos de nuestros cromosomas se pueden alargar, y como resultado, el envejecimiento es un proceso dinámico que se puede acelerar o ralentizar y en algunos aspectos incluso revertir.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, La solución de los telómeros: Un acercamiento revolucionario para vivir más joven, más sano y más tiempo

“Several mind-body techniques, including meditation and Qigong, have been shown to reduce stress and to increase telomerase, the enzyme that replenishes telomeres.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“Rumination is a loop of repetitive, unproductive thoughts about something that’s bothering you. If you’re not sure how often you ruminate, now you can start to notice. Most stress triggers are short-lived, but we humans have the remarkable ability to give them a vivid and extended life in the mind, letting them fill our headspace long after the event has passed. Rumination, also known as brooding, can slip into a more serious state known as depressive rumination, which includes negative thoughts about oneself and one’s future. Those thoughts can be toxic.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“The iPhone mind-wandering study showed that when people are not thinking about what they’re doing, they’re just not as happy as when they’re engaged. As”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“The worst stressors—exposure to violence, trauma, abuse, and mental illness—are shaped by a surprising factor: the level of income inequality in a region. For example, countries with the biggest gap between their richest citizens and their poorest have the worst health and the most violence.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: A Revolutionary Approach to Living Younger, Healthier, Longer

“Nuestros genes son como el hardware de una computadora, no podemos cambiarlos. Los telómeros son parte del epigenoma, y éste es como el software, necesita programación. Nosotros somos los programadores. Hasta cierto punto, controlamos las señales químicas que hacen los cambios. Nuestros telómeros son sensibles, escuchan, nivelan y calibran las circunstancias actuales en el mundo. Juntos podemos mejorar el código de programación.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, La solución de los telómeros: Un acercamiento revolucionario para vivir más joven, más sano y más tiempo

“El ser humano es una parte limitada en el tiempo y espacio del todo que llamamos “Universo”. Pero percibe sus pensamientos, sensaciones y a sí mismo como algo separado del resto (como una ilusión óptica de su conciencia). Esta ilusión es una especie de prisión que nos limita sólo a nuestros deseos y al afecto por unas cuantas personas cercanas. La tarea es liberarnos de esta prisión al ampliar nuestro círculo de compasión hasta abrazar a todas las criaturas vivientes y a toda la naturaleza en la plenitud de su belleza. Nadie es capaz de lograr esto por completo, pero el esfuerzo es parte de la liberación y una base para la seguridad interna. ALBERT EINSTEIN, New York Times, 29 de marzo de 1972”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, La solución de los telómeros: Un acercamiento revolucionario para vivir más joven, más sano y más tiempo

“No seas muy tímido ni quisquilloso sobre tus acciones. Toda la vida es un experimento. Mientras más experimentos hagas, mejor”.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, La solución de los telómeros: Un acercamiento revolucionario para vivir más joven, más sano y más tiempo

“One study has found that people who tend to focus their minds more on what they are currently doing have longer telomeres than people whose minds tend to wander more.5 Other studies find that taking a class that offers training in mindfulness or meditation is linked to improved telomere maintenance.6”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“Why do people age differently? One reason is cellular aging.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“Senescent cells can leak proinflammatory substances that make you vulnerable to more pain, more chronic illness. Eventually, many senescent cells will undergo a preprogrammed death. The”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“Renewing cells include some types of normal cells that can divide, like immune cells; progenitor cells, which can keep dividing even longer; and those critical cells in our bodies called stem cells, which can divide indefinitely as long as they are healthy.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“Hayflick limit, the natural limit that human cells have for dividing, and the stop switch happens to be telomeres that have become critically short. Are”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“Telomeres, which shorten with each cell division, help determine how fast your cells age and when they die, depending on how quickly they wear down.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger

“The real differences between Lisa’s and Kara’s rates of aging lie in the complex interactions between genes, social relationships and environments, lifestyles, those twists of fate, and especially how one responds to the twists of fate. You’re born with a particular set of genes, but the way you live can influence how your genes express themselves. In some cases, lifestyle factors can turn genes on or shut them off.”
― Elizabeth Blackburn, The Telomere Effect: The New Science of Living Younger