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It's National Stress Awareness Month!

Did you know April is National Stress Awareness Month? Since 1992, thanks to the Health Resource Network, Americans have a month to focus on the problem of stress and how to better handle it. According to HRN's website, health care professionals and people who promote health are disseminating information and leading forums, discussion groups, and community events to raise awareness and educate the public about stress.

There's also a National Stress Awareness Day -- April 16, the day after taxes are due. Which may make it a great occasion on which to reflect about starting your taxes earlier next year.

Gene Reduces Vulnerability to Stress

If you handle stress well, you may have mom and dad to thank. UCLA researchers studying the IL6 gene and the biochemical pathway that triggers it have discovered that people who have a less common variant of the gene may be more able to withstand life's stressful events. The IL6 gene controls the body's immune response, causing inflammation when activated during the body's "fight or flight" response to stress. The most common variant of IL6 is associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer, and people with this variant have an increased risk of death for 11 years after suffering a stressful life event severe enough to trigger depression. But a less common version of IL6 lacks the pathway for stress to trigger it, resulting in no increased risk of death following major stress for those who carry it. The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

(UCLA News Release, 2/10)

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