Association between chronic stress and the epigenome

A review joining two strands of research: the psychological, on chronic stress, and the molecular, on the epigenome — the set of marks that decide which genes are expressed and how strongly, without changing the DNA sequence itself. The question is whether chronic stress leaves a trace in those marks.

The review’s answer: DNA methylation is a plausible mediator between chronic stress and the trajectory of health. Studies in animal models, where stress can be applied under control, support a causal link between stress and epigenomic change; human studies show convergent patterns, though without the possibility of randomisation.

In this library it is the third link of the chain: exposure → lifestyle and sleep → stress → epigenome. Conversations with AI are not studied here; the entry shows how stress, to which dependence, loneliness or sleep loss can lead, passes into biology. Caveat: a review, and causality in humans remains inferred, not proven.