What Happens When Stress Hits

Chronic stress has been called America’s number one health problem. Estimates have placed stress-related problems as the cause of 75 percent to 90 percent of all primary care physician visits, and is not something to take lightly. Most often people complain they felt fatigued, anxious or depressed. Plus, they often have trouble sleeping, even though they are exhausted. But stress can have other profound effects on your immune system and overall health.

What are the first signs of stress?

  • Blood pressure rises
  • Breathing becomes more rapid
  • Digestive system slows down
  • Heart rate (pulse) rises
  • Immune system goes down
  • Muscles become tense
  • We do not sleep (heightened state of alertness)

The underlying problem is eventual adrenal burnout. It‘s the result of racing through life with a constantly aroused sympathetic (“fight or flight”) nervous system. In the heightened nervous state of adrenal burnout, the body overproduces adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones. Almost every illness is either directly caused, or made worse, by stress. That includes heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, along with:

  • Back pain and headaches
  • Stomach and digestive problems
  • Tooth grinding
  • Sleep loss and fatigue
  • Skin problems such as rashes pictured below
  • Weight gain or loss
  • Depression
  • Confusion, irritability, forgetfulness and more

Health Facts About Stress

When stress strikes, your body’s adrenal glands produce hormones, such as adrenaline, which increase blood pressure; chronic stress keeps these hormones at dangerously high levels. Studies suggest that severe cases of stress go beyond the temporary and immediate effects, like increased blood pressure, and start to damage cells of the body, sometimes altering or permanently destroying a cell’s proper function. This in turn may accelerate the aging process, leaving people prone to all manner of diseases.

The adrenal glands, being the front line in the stress reaction, eventually show wear and tear and become depleted. Frequently, this causes impairment in the thyroid gland. When the thyroid gland is impaired it can cause a further decline in energy levels and mood. This is also one of the many reasons so many women have thyroid glands that do not work very well.

Why Is Too Much Stress So Serious?

Health Facts About StressOne of the ways researchers determined how stress affects people on a cellular level was to analyze the cells of mothers caring for critically sick children. The scientists wanted to see how stress affected something called a telomere, from the Greek for “end” (telos) and “part” (meros). It is special, key component of chromosomes located at each end which provide stability, and are thought to be the markers of aging. Telomeres contain the body’s DNA and as people age this cap of DNA begins to wear away. When the telomere becomes too short to work effectively, disease steps in and cells all over the body start dying.

An interesting finding of the study: The longer women cared for sick children, the shorter their telomere became.

Another study consisted of caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients, who dedicated at least 100 hours a week to caring for a loved one with this degenerative disease. Researchers found that a damaging substance in the blood called interleukin 6 (an immune-system protein that promotes inflammation) increased dramatically among caregivers. Based on the findings the following startling analogy was made: The average caregiver was about 70 but had Il-6 levels that looked like those of a 90-year-old.

People under chronic stress have above-normal levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and this has been linked with heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, severe infections and certain cancers. It appears that stress increases levels of IL-6, which in turn accelerates a variety of age-related diseases.

Downside of Stress

Most people associate stress with worry, but stress has a much broader definition to your body. Any kind of change, whether it be emotional, environmental, an illness, hormonal or just pushing yourself too hard, can be stressful. Even positive events, such as getting a promotion or taking a vacation, can be stressful and can gradually weaken your health before you realize what is happening. If you have recently experienced a change in your sleep patterns, feel fatigued, anxious or a lack of enjoyment for life, or have multiple aches and pains, you’re likely overstressed.

Further, stress can weaken a person’s immune response, leaving them more susceptible to infection, and can lead to unhealthy lifestyle habits. For instance, stress often leads people to overeat, lose sleep, and neglect exercise, all of which can create health problems on their own.

In the next article I will be sharing some information on vitamin supplements that help with stress. Also look for different ways to manage stress coming soon.

For More Information Click Links Below

AAGGHH, Why am I Feeling So Stressed Out?

Health Facts About Stress

Vitamins For Stress

Dealing with Stress, Why is Optimism so Important

How We Age  - with video

Healthy Rx for a Healthier Life – Foundations For Health

The Ultimate Multivitamin Pack – video

Build Your Immune System Naturally – with video

Why Take a B Complex Supplement?

 

 

 

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