New hope for neurological conditions involving protein unfolding

Your cells put up a protective barrier when you get stressed–and that’s good. Now scientists have discovered a protein that can speed up the return to normal–which is also an essential part of good health. They managed to clone this protein back in 1999 and have been experimenting with it ever since. Stress causes proteins to unfold within your cells, and this protein (CHIP) helps them fold back up. They found that mice who lacked the CHIP protein were more susceptible to lots of stressors–including fever and heart attacks.

Fascinating that chronic stress can cause the same symptoms (protein unfolding) as serious neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s. I wonder how long it will take us to figure out a better way to manage stress? The HearthMath people have the answer–it’s all in the heart.

But despite their simple methods for calming the heart, it still takes great focus and tremendous commitment–both of which many of us stressed-out people have a hard time summoning.