Stress and Health

Stress is reaching epidemic proportions!

Unrelenting work pressure, concerns about finance and the economy, overwhelming family responsibilities - all can contribute to stress.

You may feel that stress just goes with the territory and that you can adapt to higher and higher stress levels.

But you may be living with an unhealthy amount of stress!

Did you know that medical experts estimate that 75-85% of illness is aggravated or precipitated by stress?

Here we look at some of the causes of stress, how stress affects health, and what you can do about stress in your life.

How does stress affect health

Over half the population report experiencing moderate to high stress levels in the previous year.

The main causes of stress are stress at work, concerns over money, and family responsibilities.

This is the type of stress that occurs often.

The effect of this unrelenting stress can be cause stress and health problems.

In demonstrating the link between stress and health I often use this example in my stress management presentations.

I pick up a water bottle and ask:

"How heavy is this bottle of water?"

Usually people call out between 7oz to 15oz.

I then respond, "The weight of the water does not matter so much, what matters is the length of time I hold it for."

"If I hold this water bottle for 60 seconds - that is not a problem"

"If I hold it for 20 minutes I will have a sore wrist"

"If I hold it for an hour my muscles will spasm and hurt"

"If I hold it for a day I will most likely end up in hospital"

I explain that, "The weight of the water bottle has not changed."

"What has changed" I say "is the length of time that I carry the burden"

Is this similar to the stress in your life?

We all have burdens and pressure that we carry throughout the day, but if we are unable to put them down once and while, then it becomes increasingly hard to carry on.

We need to be able to rest and recuperate before we can carry the burden again.

While we may think that we are traveling well with these extra burdens and stress, the reality is that we may be living with an unhealthy stress level.

Without rest, recuperation or relaxation, it can be increasingly difficult to work and play at your peak, and eventually job burnout, fatigue, and illness will follow.

This is why it is important to manage stress and health through stress management techniques such as breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, or other stress reduction techniques.

Stress and health: Stress and the immune system

Have you ever noticed that after periods of unrelenting pressure that you get sick!

This is because stress and health are closely connected!

I know that as a student I was always getting the "sniffles" after exam periods. In my first year of internship I was always balancing insane hours while fighting off a constant cold.

Stress can lower your immune system.

The immune system is your body's defense system, which detects and eliminates bacteria and viruses in your body.

Stress, by releasing glucorticoids during the fight or flight response, inhibit the formation and kill these white blood cells (including the NK cells).

This makes the body more vulnerable to tumor growth.

A reduction in the white blood cells also means that wounds take longer to heal and there is an increase in the chance of infection.

For example, students under pressure had slower-healing wounds and took longer to produce immune system cells that kill invading organisms (Jemmot, 1983).

Probably one of the most conclusive studies done on the relationship between stress and illness was on a group of 394 participants. Those who reported higher stress showed:

• higher rates of the presence of infection in their blood for five different viruses, and
• were judged by doctors as having a clinical cold (Cohen et al., 1991).

Stress and health are intimately related as stress lowers the body’s defenses against illness.

Stress and cancer

Although there is little evidence that stress causes cancer, there is evidence that stress can affect the growth of some cancerous tumors.

The stress response releases hormones into the blood. These hormones inhibit the production of B cells and T cells.

These B and T cells either increase immune functioning or recognize the aberrant cells and kill them before they produce a tumor.

Research has shown that stress can lower the body’s defenses and its ability to:

• prevent the aberrant cells from invading in the first place,
• repair the aberrant cells, or
• killer T-cells can kill off cancer cells.

Stress and heart disease

Stress increases blood pressure and releases hormones that narrow the arteries.

The build-up of plaque, or atherosclerosis, in the arteries can result.

As the build-up increases, the arteries narrow further, making the heart work harder to pump the blood and oxygen around the body.

With the heart working harder and pumping blood with greater power, this can create more damage to the arteries.

Related stress management articles

Stress Causes: Some Common Stress Causes

Definition of Stress: A Contemporary Stress Definition

Time Management Course: Become More Effective and Reduce Stress

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