HoldsUp

Elissa Epel

University of California, San Francisco

Elissa Epel, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, where she directs the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center. Her research focuses on stress biology and the mechanisms underlying healthy and cellular aging. Her published work investigates the relationships between perceived stress, telomere dynamics, eating behaviors, metabolic health, and social factors.

41 claims checked on air: 1 context 1 contradicted 2 overstated 34 supported 3 unverified 3 flagged

What they said on air - unverified

0:11:48unverifiedvery lowDr. Elissa Epel on Telomeres and the Role of Stress Biology

Telomerase was discovered by Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and colleagues over 25 years ago.

"And this was discovered by Liz Blackburn and Carol Greider and colleagues over 25 years ago, and they were showing how if you knock it down, the cells cannot divide anymore, and if you upregulate it, the cells become immortal." (said at 0:11:48)

No published record matching the claim was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:26:44unverifiedvery lowDr. Elissa Epel on Telomeres and the Role of Stress Biology

Perseverative cognition and waking stress in caregivers correlate with elevated cortisol and accelerated aging biomarkers like inflammation and shorter telomere length.

"And we are looking at daily stress in our current studies and seeing that people who have this profile of more elevated—we call it perseverative cognition or thought processes—they have accelerated biomarkers of aging: telomere length and inflammation... We find that our caregivers do that a lot more. They wake up, they are already in a stressed state, their cortisol is higher." (said at 0:26:44)

No published record matching the claim that perseverative cognition and waking stress in caregivers correlate with elevated cortisol and accelerated aging biomarkers such as inflammation and shorter telomere length was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:31:12unverifiedvery lowDr. Elissa Epel on Telomeres and the Role of Stress Biology

In cellular and mouse models, estrogen upregulates telomerase, enhances mitochondrial ATP production, and reduces oxidative stress leakage.

"estrogen, when we look at these experimental models and in vitro and in mice, estrogen is protective and anti-aging in a sense in that it upregulates telomerase, it improves mitochondrial health. Those energy stores in our cells, those batteries, are more robust, they create more ATP, they leak less oxidative stress." (said at 0:31:12)

No published record matching the claim that estrogen upregulates telomerase, enhances mitochondrial ATP production, and reduces oxidative stress leakage in cellular and mouse models was located; this does not prove the claim false.

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