The Stress Response Part IV
With the holidays now upon us, one of the most common statements we hear in our office is how much more "stressed out" our patients are feeling during this time of the year.
Between work deadlines, school closings, holiday parties, family gatherings and that last-minute gift that needs to be bought, it's understandable how quickly the pressure can seem to build.
But what exactly is stress and how can we work to prevent it from overwhelming our lives? We have dedicated our past several installments to providing you with information on the stress response and its many effects on the body.
For those who may be reading our article for the first time, or for those who would enjoy short summaries, here is a brief review of what we have been discussing: Stress, in its most basic form, is the "fight-or flight" response that many of you are familiar with.
A stressor is any stimulus that elicits the stress response cascade, and we used the analogy of a saber-toothed tiger ambushing one of our hunter-gatherer ancestors as an example of a stressor.
So what happens when that tiger emerges? Heart rate increases and your blood vessels constrict, which elevates blood pressure to bring more oxygen and nutrients to our muscles.
Blood glucose levels elevate in order to provide us with ample energy to burn as we try to escape.
Insulin receptors are shut down to help keep glucose in the blood longer.
There is a release of fatty acids into the blood, which serves as another form of energy for our bodies to burn and to help blood clot in case of a cut.
Secondary effects are a decrease in immunity (no reason to fight a cold if we're fighting for our lives against an angry animal), and an impaired ability to sleep or even learn new material.
Are these effects of the stress response intelligent? Absolutely.
Are they healthy? Absolutely NOT! While we owe our very existence to the stress response and its ability to help us in a crisis situation, the very same stress response is now responsible for over 75% of the major diseases plaguing our society today.
You see, we were not designed to be in a perpetual state of stress.
The stress response was designed to work phenomenally well in short bursts lasting seconds or minutes, whereas now it's not uncommon for many people to spend hours, days, months or years in a chronic state of stress.
How healthy would ancestors have been if they were running from a saber-toothed tiger for months on end? Heart disease, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, high cholesterol and many forms of cancer are the direct result of chronic stress interfering with and destroying our body's normal physiology.
This is what is known as adaptive physiology, and we will never be truly healthy if our physiology is always adapting to stress.
Since the pace of our lives is not slowing down any time soon, we will continue to be bombarded with stressors throughout our lives.
The challenge lies in how quickly we can recover from a stressor and break the cycle of a chronic stress response to get back to living normal, healthy lives.
What if there was somewhere you could go to have your stress levels evaluated with the very same technology used by the world's premiere researchers and well as by NASA to evaluate the stress levels of their astronauts? More importantly, what we could show you with your own two eyes that your stress levels and your body's response to them have been reduced? Would that be of interest to you? What if we told you that you did not have to leave Birmingham, but could have this remarkably insightful assessment done right here at our office in Inverness? What if we told you that the easiest way to positively impact the negative effects of the stress response in your body is through regular chiropractic adjustments? Sounds crazy right? Well, the latest scientific research has shown that chiropractic is not only beneficial in restoring optimum range of motion to the joints of your spine, but we now know that chiropractic adjustments optimize the function of your nervous system! Chiropractors have theorized this for over a century, but now we have the physical proof to show how chiropractic adjustments dramatically alter physiological function and brain activity.
We are very excited about the many beneficial applications this new unit can have for our current practice members, as well as for those of you in our community who are looking to make a positive change in your health in the coming new year.
Between work deadlines, school closings, holiday parties, family gatherings and that last-minute gift that needs to be bought, it's understandable how quickly the pressure can seem to build.
But what exactly is stress and how can we work to prevent it from overwhelming our lives? We have dedicated our past several installments to providing you with information on the stress response and its many effects on the body.
For those who may be reading our article for the first time, or for those who would enjoy short summaries, here is a brief review of what we have been discussing: Stress, in its most basic form, is the "fight-or flight" response that many of you are familiar with.
A stressor is any stimulus that elicits the stress response cascade, and we used the analogy of a saber-toothed tiger ambushing one of our hunter-gatherer ancestors as an example of a stressor.
So what happens when that tiger emerges? Heart rate increases and your blood vessels constrict, which elevates blood pressure to bring more oxygen and nutrients to our muscles.
Blood glucose levels elevate in order to provide us with ample energy to burn as we try to escape.
Insulin receptors are shut down to help keep glucose in the blood longer.
There is a release of fatty acids into the blood, which serves as another form of energy for our bodies to burn and to help blood clot in case of a cut.
Secondary effects are a decrease in immunity (no reason to fight a cold if we're fighting for our lives against an angry animal), and an impaired ability to sleep or even learn new material.
Are these effects of the stress response intelligent? Absolutely.
Are they healthy? Absolutely NOT! While we owe our very existence to the stress response and its ability to help us in a crisis situation, the very same stress response is now responsible for over 75% of the major diseases plaguing our society today.
You see, we were not designed to be in a perpetual state of stress.
The stress response was designed to work phenomenally well in short bursts lasting seconds or minutes, whereas now it's not uncommon for many people to spend hours, days, months or years in a chronic state of stress.
How healthy would ancestors have been if they were running from a saber-toothed tiger for months on end? Heart disease, high blood pressure, type II diabetes, high cholesterol and many forms of cancer are the direct result of chronic stress interfering with and destroying our body's normal physiology.
This is what is known as adaptive physiology, and we will never be truly healthy if our physiology is always adapting to stress.
Since the pace of our lives is not slowing down any time soon, we will continue to be bombarded with stressors throughout our lives.
The challenge lies in how quickly we can recover from a stressor and break the cycle of a chronic stress response to get back to living normal, healthy lives.
What if there was somewhere you could go to have your stress levels evaluated with the very same technology used by the world's premiere researchers and well as by NASA to evaluate the stress levels of their astronauts? More importantly, what we could show you with your own two eyes that your stress levels and your body's response to them have been reduced? Would that be of interest to you? What if we told you that you did not have to leave Birmingham, but could have this remarkably insightful assessment done right here at our office in Inverness? What if we told you that the easiest way to positively impact the negative effects of the stress response in your body is through regular chiropractic adjustments? Sounds crazy right? Well, the latest scientific research has shown that chiropractic is not only beneficial in restoring optimum range of motion to the joints of your spine, but we now know that chiropractic adjustments optimize the function of your nervous system! Chiropractors have theorized this for over a century, but now we have the physical proof to show how chiropractic adjustments dramatically alter physiological function and brain activity.
We are very excited about the many beneficial applications this new unit can have for our current practice members, as well as for those of you in our community who are looking to make a positive change in your health in the coming new year.
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