What Stress Does To The Body
Stress is a problem that impacts most people at some point in there lives. Overly busy work schedules, relationship or family problems, congested traffic can all cause stressful situations. If stress occurs often and for long periods of time, it can have detrimental effects on both mental and physical health. Let’s have a look at what stress may do to your body.
Stress and the Risk of Chronic Diseases
A recent study showed that people who are often stressed out may have a higher chance of developing chronic health conditions such as heart disease and arthritis. Keeping stress at bay may help you live longer and struggle less with health issues later in life.
Stress May Damage Your Heart
According to research, stress significantly increases the risk of having a heart attack. A recent study shows that you are 27% more likely to have a heart attack when under stress. This is about the same amount of increased risk that is associated with smoking five cigarettes per day. Stress also impacts the body’s health after a heart attack, research showing that people who experience a lot of stress after a heart attack are 42% more likely to die within two years after the attack.
Stress and the Risk of Strokes
Research shows that stress may contribute to the risk of having a stroke. Keeping it mellow may help you prevent a very dangerous medical health condition.
Stress and Depression
Depression is a serious disease that can have severe mental and physical consequences. Stress has been linked with symptoms of depression in a study conducted on mice by the U.S. National Institute on Mental Health.
Stress and Cancer
Recent animal studies show that stress may cause cancer drugs to be less effective at killing cancer cells.
Stress Impacts Your Immune System
Stress can impact the functioning of your immune system, which may have a number of negative health effects. When under stress, you are more perceptible to get ill from a contagious disease, such as the common cold. A study done by the National Academy of Sciences showed that symptoms of a cold can be worse when people are under stress because the immune system is not as effective at fighting off the virus.
Stress has numerous other negative health effects. While a lot of research is still to be done in order to be able to determine exactly how significant the impact of stress is on the body, almost all research is indicating that stress should not be taken lightly. If you want to maintain your long term health, you should try to eliminate the causes of stress in your life as much as possible. If your job is giving you constant stress, you might want to talk to your boss, or even consider changing careers. If your relationship is having you constantly stress out and worry, then you need to work on this. Many aspects of our lives can cause stress, but luckily most of the time we can control these aspects ourselves and eliminate most of our stress. Having a healthy mind and body is essential to maintaining a good quality of life.
Zane Schwarzlose is a writer at the Lakeway Center for Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. Zane is glad he doens’t lead a stressful life.