Stress is a physical and mental sense of pressure, which is a reaction of our organism to different unpleasant situations and feelings. At some points, stress can be positive because it’s a natural response of the body which helps us avoid many dangers and risks.
In the life of every human comes a period when there’s too much stress. It can lead to the development of many different physical and mental diseases.
The list of diseases which stress cause grows every day because of the crazy speed of the modern lifestyle. Most people do anything to reduce it.
According to recent research by the American Psychological Association, about 40% of adults, who feel stress, have problems with sleep. But also stress is related to disorders of other organs. It can seriously worsen the quality of life for every person.
Skin
Our body responds to stress in different ways. One of them can be inflammation on your skin. Skin becomes greasy, pores blocked, and it can make your face red and irritated. Stress can be a reason for a rash on your face.
Heart
During stressful situations, the adrenal glands secrete stress hormones called cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. Through blood vessels, they enter the heart and make it beat faster. As a result, it leads to high blood pressure and causes hypertension.
Adrenaline also damages the vessels and sometimes it can be the first stage for developing atherosclerosis. Many people try to fight stress with the help of bad habits like smoking, drinking alcohol or overeating, and those things can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Brain
High levels of cortisol over time stimulates the activity of amygdala. Amygdala is responsible for the feeling of fear. At the same time, it degenerates the hippocampus function which affects our memory and stress resistance in a bad way. It also reduces the size of the prefrontal brain cortex, which regulates concentration, the process of making decisions and communication with other people.
In this way, stress leads to problems with memory and makes you closer to such diseases as depression and Alzheimer.
Immune system
Stress cells help our organism fight many harmful bacterias and regenerate faster. But chronic stress conversely hurts our immune system. Stress activates chronical inflammatory processes and lowers immunity even for people who don’t have problems with it usually.
First of all, owing to chronic stress developing autoimmune diseases, and it means that the organism perceives healthy cells as endanger for immunity. Also, cortisol lowers level of lymphocytes, that’s why the organism is generally more vulnerable to viruses.
Lifespan
Lifespan at some points depends on stress. It affects telomeres-protective chromosome regions that determine the age of each cell. They allow chromosomes to share without damage of genetical code. When telomeres are weak then cells will die.
If you are one of those who worries about the high levels of stress in their lives, try to follow some of these rules:
First of all, get a stress test to define the condition of your organism at this moment
Engage in relaxing techniques, for example, dancing, swimming, yoga or aromatherapy
Don’t neglect physical activity
Plan your day according to the actual time you have
Take breaks during the working day to warm up
Stay away from negative people
Eat healthy food
Drink more water
Exclude bad habits like smoking or drinking too much alcohol
Don’t forget to enjoy things you really love