Stress Kills -- How To Protect Yourself From Its Deadly Effect
Chronic stress is linked to heart attacks, stroke as well as life impairing diseases like diabetes. Besides these, stress can cause you headaches, eczema flare ups, insomnia, chronic aches and pains, weight gain around your waist, ulcers, indigestion, anxiety attacks and burn out. It also increases your bad cholesterol level and leads to an increased risk of heart disease.
Even if stress does not kill you, in affects your quality of life. Stress ages you more quickly too, leading you to an earlier grave.
You see, stress causes your body to produce more cortisol. The stress hormone, also known as the death hormone. As we grow older, growth hormones and other hormones decrease, while cortisol increases.
Cortisol increases your blood sugar levels. In a situation where you need to physically fight off or run from a threat, like a caveman confronted by an angry bear, that comes in useful as more energy is ready for your body to use. However, if blood sugar levels stay high due to elevated cortisol levels, you can develop diabetes as a result.
Likewise, when blood pressure increases and blood is directed away from non essential tasks like digestion, and heart beat rises, your body is better prepared to fight or flee from physical threats, however, if this is sustained in the long run, you'd end up with high blood pressure and heart disease.
Stress also ages your rapidly.
Unfortunately, stress is part and parcel of life. Some people cope better with stress than others. Type A personality types, the go getters and perfectionists are most likely to be advesely affected by stress as they demand so much of themselves and push themselves to the limit, both at work and at play. People who are very giving or work in caregiver jobs that require them to give a lot of themselves are also prone to stress overload. The key thing is this. After a stressful event, your body needs to wind down. You need to let the cortisol levels subside, for your metabolism to return to normal, for the non essential systems like your digestive system to function normally, for your heart rate to lower to its normal rate, in order to stay healthy in the long run. Take some time off for yourself. Not only do you deserve it, that time off is necessary for you to continue to do these things which you love and to work at maximum capacity.
You need to relax.
Take a break. Not by partying or drinking. Spend some quiet time by yourself, or in the company of friends you are very comfortable with. Read a book. Rest by the beach. Stare out into the horizon. Just do nothing.
Even if stress does not kill you, in affects your quality of life. Stress ages you more quickly too, leading you to an earlier grave.
You see, stress causes your body to produce more cortisol. The stress hormone, also known as the death hormone. As we grow older, growth hormones and other hormones decrease, while cortisol increases.
Cortisol increases your blood sugar levels. In a situation where you need to physically fight off or run from a threat, like a caveman confronted by an angry bear, that comes in useful as more energy is ready for your body to use. However, if blood sugar levels stay high due to elevated cortisol levels, you can develop diabetes as a result.
Likewise, when blood pressure increases and blood is directed away from non essential tasks like digestion, and heart beat rises, your body is better prepared to fight or flee from physical threats, however, if this is sustained in the long run, you'd end up with high blood pressure and heart disease.
Stress also ages your rapidly.
Unfortunately, stress is part and parcel of life. Some people cope better with stress than others. Type A personality types, the go getters and perfectionists are most likely to be advesely affected by stress as they demand so much of themselves and push themselves to the limit, both at work and at play. People who are very giving or work in caregiver jobs that require them to give a lot of themselves are also prone to stress overload. The key thing is this. After a stressful event, your body needs to wind down. You need to let the cortisol levels subside, for your metabolism to return to normal, for the non essential systems like your digestive system to function normally, for your heart rate to lower to its normal rate, in order to stay healthy in the long run. Take some time off for yourself. Not only do you deserve it, that time off is necessary for you to continue to do these things which you love and to work at maximum capacity.
You need to relax.
Take a break. Not by partying or drinking. Spend some quiet time by yourself, or in the company of friends you are very comfortable with. Read a book. Rest by the beach. Stare out into the horizon. Just do nothing.
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