Doctor Hans Selye describes how the body reacts to stress in terms of the General Adaptation Syndrome. He separates the stress response into three phases: Alarm Response, Adaptation and Exhaustion. The Alarm Response is the fight or flight response that gets the body ready for immediate action. If the source of stress persists, for this reason the body prepares for long term protection through the secretion of additional hormones that increase the blood compliment levels to sustain energy and also to set up the blood pressure. This Adaptation phase, which results from exposure to long periods of stress, is common and not necessarily harmful but without periods of relaxation and rest to counter-balance the stress response, sufferers will become liable to fatigue, concentration lapses, irritability and lethargy as the effort to sustain arousal slides into negative stress. Under persistent, chronic stress, sufferers enter the Exhaustion phase: mental, physical and emotional available means suffer heavily and the body experiences ‘adrenal exhaustion’, where blood sugar levels lower to the degree that the adrenals become depleted, governing to decreased stress tolerance, progressive mental and physical exhaustion, illness and sinking.
Exposure to excessive stress results in hormonal imbalances, which can produce a variety of symptoms:-
Physical symptoms - changes in sleep patterns, missed heartbeats, fatigue, palpitations, changes in digestion, breathlessness, loss of sexual airing, headaches, infections, indigestion, tingling of hands and feet, aches and pains in various parts of the body, dizziness, sweating and trembling.
Mental symptoms - lack of concentration, panic attacks, renown lapses, difficulty in material decisions, disorientation and confusion.
Emotional symptoms - deterioration in personal hygiene and appearance, bouts of depression, impatience and irritability, fits of rage and tearfulness.
Behavioural symptoms - desire changes, erosive disorders, increased intake of alcohol and other drugs, nail biting, fidgeting, restlessness, hypochondria and increased smoking.
The term ‘cardiovascular’ refers to the heart and the body’session system of kindred vessels. Cardiovascular disease is probably the most serious health problem that can be linked to stress - it is the most common cause of death in the UK and the USA. The primary causes of heart disease include smoking and high fat diets but pressure is a significant contributory factor.
Adrenal hormones act to increase blood pressure; temporary rises in blood calamity present no threat to health but a frequent or perpetual state of southerly blood pressure can have a weighty effect on health in the long term. High blood compressing is linked with the development of arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Arteriosclerosis is the result of the development of blood plaque in the arteries, that progressively narrows the path through which the blood flows. Eventually an artery can become blocked, leading to angina, misfortune and heart failure.
Infections, viruses, harmful bacteria and cancer are stopped from harming the body by the immune system. Excessive stress can damage the immune system by the agency of dint of. moving the thymus gland, which manufactures white blood cells for regulating immunity and also produces various immune related hormones. The stress reaction diverts funds to the main parts of the body that exigency to distribute with stress, largely the brain, heart and muscles. The immune system and other systems are deprived of resources. The thymus gland may shrink because of the hormones that are produced by the adrenal glands. This will also degrade the be done by the white hotspur cells, that will ground damage to the body’s ability to draw the sword infection. Reduced resistance to common infections, such as flu, colds and herpes is a result of high stress. Because certain types of white blood cells produced by the thymus are active in preventing the development of cancer cells in the body, any damage to the thymus may effect the bod’s ability to confront cancer.
Asthma is a respiratory disorder noted by the temporary constriction of the bronchi, the airways dendritic from the trachea to the lungs. Attacks are usually brought on by allergic reactions to antigens, such as grass and tree pollen, mould spores, fungi and certain foods otherwise than that in like manner may be caused by chemical irritants in the air or by infections of the respiratory tract. Susceptibility to an asthma attack is based on hyperactivity of the bronchial muscles, which constrict on exposing. to one or a single one of these agents. Chronic stress reduces the efficiency of the adrenal glands, reducing the output of anti inflammatory and anti allergic adrenal hormones, which may journey an asthma attack greater quantity that may be liked.
Diabetes is caused by the agency of the inability of the body to metabolise sweeten correctly, leading to excessively high levels of sugar in the blood. Sugar metabolism is the trust of the hormone insulin, which is secreted by the pancreas. The majority of diabetics are able to produce insulin moreover a number of factors restrict its efficiency; this is known as ‘insulin sensitivity’.
The release of adrenal hormones under stress can have a significant impact on blood sugar levels. Adrenaline causes sugar in the liver to exist put into the blood stream and cortisol acts to reduce the metabolism of glucose by cells. Large amounts of cortisol act to decrease insulin sensitivity. High blood sugar levels are not dangerous in normally healthy individuals but inveterate stress, combined with other factors such as obesity, act to increase the likelihood of developing diabetes.
Ulcers are frequently associated with pressure, although no conclusive link has yet been demonstrated. Normally the lining of the stomach is covered with a layer of mucus to protect it from the digestive acids and enzymes used in the breaking down of food. Over time, chronic stress can stimulate the overproduction of gastric juices, which break down the protective mucus and act upon the walls of the digestive tract, resulting in ulceration. Ulcers usually occur singly in open or oval lesions; the erosions are usually shallow but can penetrate the entire wall, leading to haemorrhage and possibly death.
Many problems through the digestive tract, such as constipation, diarrhoea and irritable bowel syndrome are linked to stress. The brain will send messages to the nerves in the digestive tract in the form of hormones. These messages will tell the of the intestines muscles to lay open or contract. Hormonal imbalances have power to cause alterations in intestinal function, such as spasms, constipation and diarrhoea. Chronic stress tends to shut down the digestive system altogether, exacerbating intestinal problems.
Stress increases levels of toxicity in the body and contributes to hormonal imbalances, both of which have some effect on the skin. The visible effects of emphasis on the skin include:- acne, spots, skin diseases, eczema, inordinate pallor and psoriasis.
Headaches are person of our mostly hackneyed afflictions and are normally caused not by malady but by fatigue, emotional disorders or allergies. Intermittent tension headaches are caused by worry, anxiety, overwork or disproportionate ventilation. The most common type, a chronic tension headache, is often caused through excavation. Brain tissue itself is insensitive to suffering, as is the bony covering of the brain (cranium). The stimulation of the nerves of the cranium, upper neck and the membranous linings of the brain will cause headache pain. This stimulation have power to be produced by inflammation, by the dilation of blood vessels of the head or by muscle spasms in the neck and thought. Headaches brought on by muscle spasms are classified as tension headaches: those caused by the expanding of blood vessels are called vascular headaches.
Migraine is the most common cause of vascular headache. Many things seem capable of triggering migraine attacks, including stress, fatigue, drugs and foods that contain substances that affect the blood vessels. Chronic headache may be physical symptoms of depression or other kinds of severe emotional problems.
Stress has a debilitating effect onward the nerves in general and certain premenstrual symptoms may be aggravated by stress. Many sufferers of PMS have abnormal levels of the adrenal hormone aldosterone, which may computation in the place of some of the problems of enormous liquid reservation and weight gain, breast tenderness and ventral bloating. Further disengage of aldosterone caused by stress testament exacerbate these problems.
Chronic stress can produce censorious depression because of its debilitating psychological effects. The physiological changes produced by stress can also contribute to depression. Adrenaline and noradrenaline are not only adrenal hormones but chemical messengers in the brain. Deficiencies of noradrenaline have been linked to depression in sure individuals and so adrenal exhaustion through chronic long term stress may be a contributory factor in depressive illness.
By: Andrew Tomkinson
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Andrew Tomkinson is a successful author of many articles on hale condition related subjects. He also recommends fitness, health and nutrition products and services to improve your lifestyle and far being. Do you want to be healthier, have a better persons of rank of life and interest abounding superior situation of the opportunities open to you? GO HERE- www,fitnesshealthnutrition.org
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