Repeated stress will cause extra work for the heart, the blood vessels and the kidneys. In simple terms, this will cause wear and tear of the system. Thus, repeated activation would cause fatigue and damage the heart and other major systems. Logically, we should then experience heart problems after many years and very late in life. We are all familiar with anecdotes about the incidence of heart diseases in younger people. In India, the incidences of cardiovascular diseases have gone up dramatically during the last two decades and this rise has been blamed on the modern lifestyle and stress.
Category: Stress Relief
Stress Relief: Heart Attacks
An important aspect of our body’s stress response is the increase in cardiovascular output. The reason for this is not far to see. From the point of view of evolution, in the face of a physical stressor, oxygen and energy need to be diverted to muscles for flight or fight. The heart is the transport system pump; the delivery routes are the blood vessels. Using blood as the transporting medium, the heart propels oxygen, nutrients, wastes, and other substances to and past the body cells. Naturally, this (cardiovascular) output needs to be increased when faced with a stressor.
Stress Relief: Why Do We Get Sick?
If mobilization of energy in response to stress works so wonderfully, why should it make us sick in face of chronic psychological stress? For many of the same reasons that constantly running to the bank and drawing cash from the savings accounts is a foolish way to handle your money.
Stress Relief: Do Bacteria Cause Ulcers?
In 1983, an Australian pathologist named Robert Warren discovered a bacterium called helicobacter pylori. He enlisted the help of his colleague Barry Marshall, who stated that this bacterium turned up consistently in the stomachs of people suffering from duodenal ulcers and stomach inflammation. He took a daring step and theorized that the bacterium actually caused the inflammation and the ulcer. He announced his findings at an international conference on gastroenterology and was promptly laughed out of the hall.
Stress Relief: Does Stress Cause Ulcers?
The Digestive System
Before we discuss the effects of stress on the formation of ulcers, we will take a brief look at the mechanical processes involved in digestion. Recall from our discussion on the digestive system from previous article, that it takes a huge amount of energy in terms of muscular movement to digest a stomach full of lunch. The food in the stomach is broken down mechanically and chemically. The stomach muscles contract violently on one side and the food is flung against the far sidewall of the stomach.
Stress Relief: The Vulcans
In my errant youth, I was fascinated by a TV serial called ‘Star Trek’ and repeatedly watched the episodes of that show. For those uninitiated in the field of junk science fiction TV shows, the story line of Star Trek is roughly as follows—a group of intrepid space travellers use a space ship propelled by novel technology to explore the universe. The captain is a human and he has a diverse bunch of aliens acting as his crew. The first officer of the ship is a Vulcan—a human-like species. The Vulcans though human in appearance have com¬plete control over their emotions.
Stress Relief: Hostility and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
As far as hostility is concerned, it is not clear which type is bad. Is it the overt hostility (all lawyers watch out— you may be at higher risk of coronary disease!) or is it the repressive type (the tendency not to express your emotions when angry)? There are contradictory studies, which favour the different viewpoints. One fascinating study seems to give a better picture. In that study, healthy volunteers were shown a film clip that evokes some strong emotions (like a surgical procedure with blood and all the internals).
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Stress Relief: Personality Type and Temperament
In this article we will look at one particular personality type and see what the consequences are in terms of vulnerability to stress-related diseases. Though the picture is grim for such people, there is definite good news—the proverbial silver lining to the dark cloud. Such personality traits are not permanent and you can make an active effort to change, which reduces your vulnerability.
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Stress Relief: Stress and Reproduction
First, we will take a look at the male reproductive system. Your average male has a pretty run of the mill system as compared to the complexity of the female reproductive system.
Stress Relief: Effect of Immune System
Inside our body there is an amazing protection mechanism called the immune system. It is designed to defend us against the millions of bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites that would love to invade our body. To understand the power of the immune system, all that we have to do is look at what happens to anything once it dies. That sounds vulgar, but it does show you something very important about the immune system. When something dies its immune system (along with everything else) shuts down.