How Your Body Responds To Stress
"COLD FEET", "butterflies in your stomach", ''cold sweat'', “pounding heart''... who hasn't experienced these at one time or another? They are hardly exotic diseases. They graphically describe the mind-body interaction that takes place in our everyday responses to stressful situations. Research has so far discovered about 1,400 physiological changes that take place in the body when we are exposed to stress. Most stress responses are regulated by the autonomic nervous system.
How Stress Can Effect Your Health
Stress has been shown to be either a causative or a contributory factor in a large number of diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, migraine and other headaches, cancer, diabetes, asthma, skin disorders, insomnia, gastrointestinal disorders, some types of weakening or malfunctioning of the immune system, etc., and the list continues to grow.
How Stress Can Effect The Way You Age
Aging overnight'' or ''dying of a broken heart'' are not just literary phrases. There is evidence showing that stress is a significant factor in aging and longevity. Remaining healthy, looking good and feeling well for as long as possible is a goal we all share. Successful stress management which includes relaxation training, proper nutrition and exercise and developing a healthy life- style in general will help you to overcome and reverse the negative effects of stress.
The Importance of Maintaining Homeostatic Balance
This system has two divisions called sympathetic and parasympathetic, which working in opposition to each other, maintain a balance in the body's functioning which is called homeostasis. For example, we maintain a certain heartbeat rate, body temperature and respiration rate, because as the sympathetic system tries to increase them the parasympathetic slows them down. Stress disturbs and changes this homeostatic balance. When, due to prolonged and/or frequent exposure to stress, the body continues to function at these abnormal levels for any length of time, we may develop many kinds of physical and psychological disorders and illnesses.
