Six Ways Stress Can Affect Your Physical Health

 

 

Everyone experiences stress in their day-to-day life, but if one finds themselves constantly stressed out, this could lead to a variety of more serious physical health issues. Therefore, if one feels that they are experiencing lots of stress, they should seek help before it leads to some of the more serious physical health issues listed and discussed below.

 

 

1. Susceptibility to Infection

If one is experiencing a lot of stress in their life, the immune system is actually directly affected by being suppressed. Just like with anything else that suppresses the immune system, it can cause one to become vulnerable to most infections that could have usually been fought off with ease. If one already has an illness, large amounts of stress can prolong an illness that would have generally passed in a couple of days. If one is feeling stress and finds themselves undergoing an illness, being surrounded by both family and friends can offset some of the effects of the stress.

 

 

2. Heart Problems

The heart is one of the most vital organs of the human body. Without it, one cannot live. If one experiences large amounts of stress, one can actually find themselves experiencing a variety of different heart problems. Eating comfort foods is one way that people often cope with stress, but this can actually do more harm than good. Most comfort foods tend to have high fat and salt content, and this can be damaging to the heart.

 

 

3. Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease related to how the human body makes insulin. Some doctors believe that if one constantly experiences chronic stress, this could actually lead to insulin dependent diabetes. This is especially true for those that are already at risk of contracting diabetes.

 

 

4. High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a chronic disease and is extremely common, especially in people that live in the United States. Stress is known to increase blood pressure. Therefore, if one experiences chronic stress, it could lead to someone with high blood pressure problems developing anything from a stroke to actual heart failure.

 

 

5. Pain

Although stress in and of itself does not cause physical pain, it can actually aggravate pain conditions that already exist, through repetitive strain injury. According to a specialist from Brantford Mall Dental Office, chronic stress can also cause jaw clenching, which often leads to temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders.

 

 

6. Skin Problems

The most common skin problems that stress causes are acne and eczema. It has even been known to cause itchy skin rashes.

 

All in all, stress can cause a lot of different physical health issues, especially if one is experiencing chronic stress.

 

Categories: affect, blood pressure, chronic stress, comfort foods, experiences chronic, health issues, high blood, human body, mind and body, nbsp nbsp, physical health, Stress, ways

Memory Booster: Study Finds Benefit for Short-Term Stress

Stress can take its toll on your emotional wellbeing, not to mention your health, but your cognitive wellness will thank you for it. This is according to a new study, published in the online journal eLife, which says that stress, apparently, boosts your brain power.

It’s a well established fact that chronic stress increases your risk of a heart attack and compromises your immune system, but scientists have discovered that, when short-lived, stress primes your brain for improved performance, boosting your memory. This is based on studies in rats, in which the researchers found that brief, yet still significant, stressful events caused the rats’ brain stem cells to turn into new nerve cells. When these matured two weeks later, the rats’ mental performance had improved.

According to Daniela Kaufer, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, ‘You always think about stress as a really bad thing, but it’s not. Some amounts of stress are good to push you just to the level of optimal alertness, behavioural and cognitive performance. I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert.’

Yet previous research has shown that chronic stress can elevate your levels of stress hormones which, in turn, suppresses this new neuron production and impairs your memory. Aside from this, it’s known that elevated levels of these hormones increase your risk of obesity, heart disease and depression. However, Dr Kaufer said that less is known about the effects of acute stress, and studies have been conflicting. She noted that her study shows that if these hormone levels are raised briefly, they boost memory, but the nerve cells need time to develop first.

Dr Kaufer explained, ‘In terms of survival, the nerve cell proliferation doesn’t help you immediately after the stress, because it takes time for the cells to become mature, functioning neurons, but in the natural environment, where acute stress happens on a regular basis, it will keep the animal more alert, more attuned to the environment and to what actually is a threat or not a threat.’ She added, ‘I think the ultimate message is an optimistic one: Stress can be something that makes you better, but it is a question of how much, how long and how you interpret or perceive it.’

Memory Booster: Study Finds Benefit for Short-Term Stress

Categories: acute stress, Brain, cells, chronic stress, dr kaufer, memory, nerve cells, Research, Short-term stress, Stress, stressful events

Memory Booster: Study Finds Benefit for Short-Term Stress

Stress can take its toll on your emotional wellbeing, not to mention your health, but your cognitive wellness will thank you for it. This is according to a new study, published in the online journal eLife, which says that stress, apparently, boosts your brain power.

It’s a well established fact that chronic stress increases your risk of a heart attack and compromises your immune system, but scientists have discovered that, when short-lived, stress primes your brain for improved performance, boosting your memory. This is based on studies in rats, in which the researchers found that brief, yet still significant, stressful events caused the rats’ brain stem cells to turn into new nerve cells. When these matured two weeks later, the rats’ mental performance had improved.

According to Daniela Kaufer, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, ‘You always think about stress as a really bad thing, but it’s not. Some amounts of stress are good to push you just to the level of optimal alertness, behavioural and cognitive performance. I think intermittent stressful events are probably what keeps the brain more alert, and you perform better when you are alert.’

Yet previous research has shown that chronic stress can elevate your levels of stress hormones which, in turn, suppresses this new neuron production and impairs your memory. Aside from this, it’s known that elevated levels of these hormones increase your risk of obesity, heart disease and depression. However, Dr Kaufer said that less is known about the effects of acute stress, and studies have been conflicting. She noted that her study shows that if these hormone levels are raised briefly, they boost memory, but the nerve cells need time to develop first.

Dr Kaufer explained, ‘In terms of survival, the nerve cell proliferation doesn’t help you immediately after the stress, because it takes time for the cells to become mature, functioning neurons, but in the natural environment, where acute stress happens on a regular basis, it will keep the animal more alert, more attuned to the environment and to what actually is a threat or not a threat.’ She added, ‘I think the ultimate message is an optimistic one: Stress can be something that makes you better, but it is a question of how much, how long and how you interpret or perceive it.’

Memory Booster: Study Finds Benefit for Short-Term Stress

Categories: acute stress, Brain, cells, chronic stress, dr kaufer, memory, nerve cells, Research, Short-term stress, Stress, stressful events