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How Does Stress Affect Health?Ever stop to wonder, just how does stress affect health? There's good stress and bad stressIn moderation, stress can be helpful. The stress on the heart of cardiovascular exercise makes it stronger. The stress from lifting weights builds muscle. Stress related to an upcoming deadline can prompt us to work in a more focused and efficient manner. In other words, the right kind and amount of stress (called "eustress") is good for us.
Prolonged stress is bad stressUnfortunately, our modern lifestyles make us more and more likely to find ourselves contending with unhealthy levels of stress over longer periods of time. Studies overwhelmingly show strong connections between high stress and a variety of medical and emotional conditions.
Bad stress can make us sick
Clearly, it's imperative that we take steps to reduce and manage stress so that we can prevent or at least decrease any impact it could have on our health.
Managing stress to stay wellA good stress management program will include methods of preventing stress, responding to it effectively, and recovering from its effects. Contending with stress is tough enough without the complication of new or aggravated medical conditions.
Photo by bark via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license. |
Stress NewsIt'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 StressIf 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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Stress During Learning Affects Ability to Remember StuffIf you want to retain what you learn, don't try to learn it when you're under stress. German researchers subjected people to stress (immersing their hands in cold water -- ouch!) while they were learning words. During recall and recognition tests 24 hours later, the numb-handed people performed less well than control subjects who were not exposed to stress during the learning exercise.(Journal of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 2/10) |
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