THE EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE BODY

Stress triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response. Chronic stress can cause negative health effects on your mood, immune and digestive systems, and cardiovascular health.

You’re sitting in traffic, late for an important meeting, watching the minutes tick away. Your hypothalamus, a tiny control tower in your brain, decides to send out the order: Send in the stress hormones! These stress hormones are the same ones that trigger your body’s “fight or flight” response. Your heart races, your breath quickens, and your muscles ready for action. This response was designed to protect your body in an emergency by preparing you to react quickly. But when the stress response keeps firing, day after day, it could put your health at serious risk.

Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences. Everyone expresses stressfrom time to time. Anything from everyday responsibilities like work and family to serious life events such as a new diagnosis, war, or the death of a loved one can trigger stress. For immediate, short-term situations, stress can be beneficial to your health. It can help you cope with potentially serious situations. Your body responds to stress by releasing hormones that increase your heart and breathing rates and ready your muscles to respond.

Yet, if your stress response doesn’t stop firing, and these stress levels stay elevated far longer than is necessary for survival, it can take a toll on your health. Chronic stress can cause a variety of symptoms and affect your overall well-being. Symptoms of chronic stress include:

irritability
anxiety
depression
headaches
insomnia

Central nervous and endocrine systems

Your central nervous system (CNS) is in charge of your “fight or flight” response. In your brain, the hypothalamus gets the ball rolling, telling your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rev up your heartbeat and send blood rushing to the areas that need it most in an emergency, such as your muscles, heart, and other important organs.

When the perceived fear is gone, the hypothalamus should tell all systems to go back to normal. If the CNS fails to return to normal, or if the stressor doesn’t go away, the response will continue. Chronic stress is also a factor in behaviors such as overeating or not eating enough, alcohol or drug abuse, and social withdrawal.

Respiratory and cardiovascular systems

Stress hormones affect your respiratory and cardiovascular systems. During the stress response, you breathe faster in an effort to quickly distribute oxygen-rich blood to your body. If you already have a breathing problem like asthma or emphysema, stress can make it even harder to breathe.

Under stress, your heart also pumps faster. Stress hormones cause your blood vessels to constrict and divert more oxygen to your muscles so you’ll have more strength to take action. But this also raises your blood pressure.

As a result, frequent or chronic stress will make your heart work too hard for too long. When your blood pressure rises, so do your risks for having a stroke or heart attack.

Digestive system

Under stress, your liver produces extra blood sugar (glucose) to give you a boost of energy. If you’re under chronic stress, your body may not be able to keep up with this extra glucose surge. Chronic stress may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The rush of hormones, rapid breathing, and increased heart rate can also upset your digestive system. You’re more likely to have heartburn or acid reflux thanks to an increase in stomach acid. Stress doesn’t cause ulcers (a bacterium called H. pylori often does), but it can increase your risk for them and cause existing ulcers to act up.

Stress can also affect the way food moves through your body, leading to diarrhea or constipation. You might also experience nausea, vomiting, or a stomachache.

Muscular system

Your muscles tense up to protect themselves from injury when you’re stressed. They tend to release again once you relax, but if you’re constantly under stress, your muscles may not get the chance to relax. Tight muscles cause headaches, back and shoulder pain, and body aches. Over time, this can set off an unhealthy cycle as you stop exercising and turn to pain medication for relief.

Immune system

Stress stimulates the immune system, which can be a plus for immediate situations. This stimulation can help you avoid infections and heal wounds. But over time, stress hormones will weaken your immune system and reduce your body’s response to foreign invaders. People under chronic stress are more susceptible to viral illnesses like the flu and the common cold, as well as other infections. Stress can also increase the time it takes you to recover from an illness or injury.

Hair Loss

Hair loss can occur after a stressful time in your life. Whether it's a divorce or the death of a loved one, your hair may fall out due to stress. When the stress has subsided, your hair will stop shedding. It may take anywhere from six to nine months for your hair to regrow to its normal volume.

Stress and anxiety can also contribute to a disorder called trichotillomania, in which people pull their hair out repeatedly. People who have this condition often report that they experience stress before pulling out their hair. Treatment for trichotillomania may include medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, and habit reversal training—identifying habits and working to change them through awareness and social support.

Heart Problems

Your body's initial cardiovascular response to stress is an increase in heart rate. Continued stress raises your blood pressure by increasing the constriction of the blood vessels. This raises your risk of cardiovascular problems like hypertension, high cholesterol, and heart attacks.

For instance, many people are stressed because of work—10% to 40% of people who are employed experience work-related stress, and 33% of these people experience severe chronic stress. People who experience stress from work are more likely to cause cardiovascular disease.

People with a high-stress job have a 22% higher risk of stroke than those with low-stress jobs. High-stress jobs are defined as jobs that are psychologically demanding—mental load, coordination burdens, and time pressure. Additionally, people experience stress when they have less control over their jobs and how hard they are expected to work.

Certain behaviors and factors can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Stress can lead a person

to engage in these behaviors, such as:

Lack of physical activity
Not taking medications as prescribed
Overeating
Smoking
Unhealthy diet

Chronic stress can have a negative impact on mental health and high blood pressure, both of which are

factors that can lead to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. To avoid heart problems related to stress, try a heart-healthy lifestyle that can include:

Eating less salt, saturated fat, and added sugar
Eating a plant-based diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
Getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week
Quitting smoking if you're a smoker
Substituting water for sugary drinks

Try to reduce stress in your life by identifying the sources of stress and working on solutions to manage them, whether that means taking time off from work when needed or spending more time with your family or friends. You can also practice mindfulness and meditation.

Headaches

Stress can leave you with a tension headache or migraine, either during the stress or in the "let-down" period afterward. Tension headaches are the most common type of headache. They typically feel like a "band is squeezing

the head" and occur in the head, scalp, or neck area. Stress also makes your muscles tense, so it can make an already bad headache even worse. While you can treat the headache with medication, you can also find ways to treat the stress causing it.

This may include headache-proofing your home or modifying your diet and lifestyle. You can also use re-

laxation or stress-management techniques that may include:

Acupuncture
Biofeedback
Cognitive behavioral feedback
Ice or hot packs

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