Skip to main content

Stress and Our Body

Stress is a feeling we all experience when we are challenged or overwhelmed. But more than an emotion, it is a hardwired physical response that travels throughout your body.

Stress can be beneficial in small doses as it helps us stay alert, focused, and motivated. However, when activated for too long or too often, your primitive flight or fight stress response changes your brain and damages many other organs and cells throughout your body.

Your adrenal gland releases the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), and norepinephrine. As these travel through your bloodstream, they reach your heart, causing it to beat faster and raises your blood pressure, over time causing hypertension. Cortisol can also cause the endothelium, or the inner lining of blood vessels, to not stop functioning. This leads to the triggering of the process of atherosclerosis or cholesterol plaque buildup in your arteries. These changes increase the chances of a heart attack or stroke.

When your brain senses stress, it activates your autonomic nervous system. The big brain communicates stress to your intestinal nervous system. This connection can disturb the natural rhythmic contractions that move food through your gut, leading to irritable bowel syndrome, and can increase your gut sensitivity to acid, causing heartburn. It can also affect the balance of bacteria in the gut, and change the composition and function of your gut bacteria, which may affect your digestive and overall health 

Does chronic stress affect your waistline? Well, yes. Cortisol increases your appetite, telling your body to replenish your stores with energy-dense foods and carbs, causing you to crave comfort foods. High levels of cortisol can also cause you to put on those extra calories as visceral or deep belly fat. This type of fat doesn't just make it harder to put on your pants. It is an organ that actively releases hormones and immune system chemicals called cytokines that can increase your risk of developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease and insulin resistance

Stress hormones can affect immune cells in a variety of ways. Initially, they help prepare to fight invaders and heal after injury, but chronic stress can dampen the function of some immune cells, making you more susceptible to infections, and slowing the rate you heal.

Want to live a long life? You may have to curb your chronic stress. It has even been associated with shortened telomeres, the tip ends of chromosomes that measure cell age. The shorter they become, the shorter becomes the lifespan of the cell.

Stress can have a significant impact on mental health. Chronic stress can lead to the development of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stress can also exacerbate existing mental health problems and make them more difficult to manage. It has been linked to an increased risk of a range of mental health problems. A study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that chronic stress was a significant predictor of anxiety and depression. Another study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress found that stress was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms in survivors of natural disasters.

Chronic stress has a lot more ways it can sabotage your health. It can cause acne, hair loss, sexual dysfunction, headaches, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and irritability 

Your life will always be filled with stressful situations. But what matters to your brain and your entire body is you respond to that stress

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Do New Variants of Viruses Emerge

The emergence of new variants of viruses has been a major concern for public health officials and scientists around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has demonstrated the devastating consequences of a new variant that is more contagious, more virulent, or more resistant to current interventions. The emergence of new variants is not unique to SARS-CoV-2, as other viruses, such as influenza, HIV, and Ebola, have also undergone significant genetic changes over time. This essay will examine how human intervention can cause the emergence of new variants of viruses, focusing on four main factors: selection pressure, transmission dynamics, animal reservoirs, and vaccine-induced selection.   Selection Pressure  Selection pressure is a force that influences the survival and reproduction of organisms based on their traits. It can come from environmental factors such as the availability of resources or presence of predators, or the presence of other o...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Bad Is Sugar For You?

Sugar is one of the most commonly consumed food ingredients in the world. It is a type of carbohydrate that is naturally found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. However, it is also added to many processed foods and drinks as a sweetener. The impact of sugar on health has been a topic of much discussion and research over the years. In this article, we will explore how sugar affects health and the different types of sugars that exist. Types of Sugar There are several types of sugar, each with its unique chemical makeup and properties. The three main types of sugar are: Glucose: This is the simplest form of sugar, and it is the primary source of energy for the body's cells. Glucose is found naturally in many foods, including fruits, vegetables, and honey. Fructose: This type of sugar is found naturally in fruits and honey, and it is also used as a sweetener in many processed foods and drinks. Sucrose: This is the most common type of sugar, and it is made up of glucose and fru...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Do Vaccines Work

Disease-causing microorganisms are all around us, in our environment and even in our bodies. These microorganisms are tiny and invisible to the naked eye, yet they can cause significant harm to our health. When a person encounters a harmful organism, it can lead to disease and even death in some cases. There are several types of microorganisms that can cause infections in humans, including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, and worms. These infections can range from mild to severe and can even be life-threatening. The Body's Natural Response To protect ourselves from these harmful microorganisms, our body has an immune system that is designed to recognize and destroy any foreign invaders. The immune system is made up of a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend the body against harmful invaders. When a pathogen, which is a disease-causing microorganism, enters our body and manages to infect us, our body’s immune system is triggered to produce ...
Post a Comment
Read more