What Stress Can do to Your Body

I had a continuing education seminar to attend last Saturday, and I admit I wasn’t too excited about spending one of my two days off in a 10-hour seminar. However, because of the knowledge I gained, I’m glad I enrolled in the course. I will be sharing some of the information in upcoming blog posts.Something that jumped out at me during the class was this startling statistic: 75 to 90 percent of all visits to the doctor’s office are related to stress. Wow. Stress affects all of us differently, but the damage it does to your body is equally harmful. Your body responds to stress by releasing hormones and increasing your heart and breathing rates. Your brain gets more oxygen, giving you an edge in responding to a problem. In the short term, stress helps you cope with tough situations.Stress can be triggered by the pressures of everyday responsibilities at work and at home. Negative life events like divorce or the death of a loved one cause stress. So can physical illness. Traumatic stress, brought on by war, disaster, or a violent attack, can keep your body’s stress levels elevated far longer than is necessary for survival.Chronic stress can cause a variety of symptoms and can affect your overall health and well-being. Symptoms of chronic stress include irritability, anxiety, and depression. You may suffer from headaches or insomnia. Chronic stress is a factor in some behaviors like overeating or not eating enough, alcohol or drug abuse, or social withdrawal.Stress hormones affect your respiratory and cardiovascular systems. During the stress response, you breathe faster in an effort to distribute oxygen and blood quickly to your body core. Your heart also pumps faster. Frequent or chronic stress makes your heart work too hard for too long, raising your risk of hypertension and problems with your blood vessels and heart. You’re at higher risk of having a stroke or heart attack.Under stress, your liver produces extra blood sugar (glucose) to give you a boost of energy. Unused blood sugar is reabsorbed by the body. If you’re under chronic stress, your body may not be able to keep up with this extra glucose surge, and you may be at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.With stress, your muscles tense up to protect themselves from injury. You’ve probably felt your muscles tighten up and release again once you relax. If you’re constantly under stress, your muscles don’t get the chance to relax. Tight muscles cause headaches, back and shoulder pain, and body aches. Over time, you may stop exercising and turn to pain medication, setting off an unhealthy cycle.Stress stimulates the immune system. In the short term, that’s a bonus. It helps you fight off infection and heal wounds. Over time, cortisol compromises your immune system, affecting histamine secretion and inflammatory response to foreign invaders. People under chronic stress are more susceptible to viral illnesses such as flu or colds.Read tomorrow’s blog to learn how to protect your body against the damages brought on by stress.