Posts tagged control

What do you think of when you hear the word “Stress”? Do you think of your kids, your parents, or your job? Do you think of all the negativity you experience on a daily basis or how you are to survive the next month? Did you stop to think that stress may not be temporary but long term? Did you ever think about how stress affects your own health?

I really think that stress can affect your health in many ways(meaning its not just emotionally and physically draining). Symptoms of stress can be as mild as chronic headaches, acid reflux, increased susceptibility to a cold or flu. But sometimes stress presents itself in more serious health problem and I hope it doesn’t get to that point for any of you.

So How Does Stress Affect Our Bodies?

Hormone Production

Stress affects the production of hormones in our body. It increases the production of some hormones and can decrease the production of others. What does this mean? It means that our bodies functions become thrown out of balance. Our organs use hormones to regulate their specific functions within our bodies. This imbalance in our body can very well be the main factor that leads to health problems such as:

• Diabetes - When a person experiences stress we secrete the hormones adrenaline and cortisol that has an elevating effect on blood glucose levels. At the same time people who experience tend to over-eat, skip meals, forget to take medication and prepare unhealthy meals. If this keep happening, people increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Obesity - People under stress tend to want to eat more comfort foods. This is simply because the effects of a “food coma” temporarily has the opposite effect of stress. Some people eat as much as 700% more than what is required in our daily food requirements. Eventually we store all this food into body fat and eat our way into obesity.
• Hair loss - This happens in the most sever cases of stress. And there are 3 ways it could happen. For some people stress can cause a condition when white blood cells to attack hair folicles. This stops hair growth and makes the hair fall out. Sometimes stress can just cause the hair to be pushed into a resting state where it stops growing and eventually they fall out. In probably the most sever cases of stress people actually pull their hair out. I really hope you guys don’t do that.
  
•  Depression - Stress can really affect the nervous system and when your nervous system is compromised depression can occur.
  
•  Sexual dysfunctions - This usually runs along the same line as depression. Stress can cause our bodies to think that there’s no need for that right now. Men usually experience erectile dysfunction while both men and women can experience difficulty having orgasms.
  

Chronic Symptoms Leading to Major Health Problems.

Over time the symptoms we feel can turn into major health issues. For example, stress can increased blood pressure (BP) and heart rates (HR). Over time, high BP and increased HR damages the cardiovascular systems & This damage increases our risk for heart attacks, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. Don’t get me wrong, increases in blood pressure and heart rates are normal when exercising but that’s temporary. I’m talking about how stress can increase your BP and HR when you’re not exercising. When this happens day after day for several hours multiple times a day, that is when this damage occurs.

Constant gritting of the teeth when stressed can wear our teeth down causing tooth and gum diseases. When we are stressed we tend to bite down a lot harder and we may not notice it but we end up gritting our teeth esp. in our sleep.

When you constantly suffer acid reflux as a symptom of stress, the overwhelming presence of acid can eat away at the lining of your stomach. this leads to stomach ulcers and in the worst cases, perforation of the stomach lining(a hole in your stomach).

LISTEN!

There are many factors that can cause stress in people. Some of us constantly suffer from many of these factors all at the same time. As we try to reduce these factors, we sometimes accumulate more stress just trying to deal with them. When you take a good look at these factors almost all of them have one thing in common. A loss of control.

Take control of your life and take control of your health.

Do something for yourself. Stay on top of your health as well as your family’s. Take charge of things you know you can control. By doing this you can kill two birds with one stone. For example, an obese person who has dealt with chronic stress can manage his/her own diet as well as an exercise regimen. This form of control can very well help this person lose weight and at the same time reduce his or her stress levels.

I strongly urge you guys, especially for those of you who experiences stressors on a daily basis, look up ways you can reduce stress. Get that stress level down!! ALSO…Give yourself a sense of control by taking advantage of things that can benefit your health. In the long run your body will thank you and may even give you more years to add on to your life!