Long-term stress has far reaching effects on the overall function of the human body. It can affect the electrical circuit of your nervous system adversely which may result in a nervous breakdown. Many of today’s maladies are attributed to the stresses of modern living. Stress is now considered to be a major threat to the health and happiness of humankind. Chronic stress usually triggers bodily imbalance that may result in physical illness and disorders. Evidence from medical research has proven the complex relationship between stress and illness. Chronic stress is now known to trigger the development of many disorders and diseases, particularly high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, depression, sleeplessness, alcoholism, fatigue, peptic ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, tension headache, and sexual dysfunction. Scientists have shown that job-stressed individuals, especially women, have increased cardiovascular risk, compared with less-stressed individuals. Many of these stress-associated disorders are attributed to increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system which is accompanied by increased production and release of stress-related hormones, and neurotransmitters, including cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine and the activities of other chemical messengers that are not yet identified.
Signs and symptoms of chronic stress include a general negative outlook, nervousness, poor judgment, agitation and the inability to relax, irritability, excessive worrying, anxiety, fear, and moodiness, physical, mental and emotional aches and pains, sense of isolation, lonely feeling, fatigue, depression, nausea, dizziness, constipation and diarrhea, rapid heartbeat, sleeplessness or sleeping too much, withdrawal from society, neglect of responsibilities or procrastination, and increased cigarette, drug or alcohol consumption. (References)Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
Radiant Health: Stress Response
Stress Response
Your survival and happiness in this world depend so much on the ability of your body to activate and terminate your stress response mechanism naturally and more effectively. The stress response is the natural way your body responds in emergency situations such as when you are under attack, feel threatened, upset, or when you sense danger. It served our forebears very well who had to face the threats of hungry wild animals in the jungles of the world. This natural mechanism of responding to danger from beasts and reptiles enabled our ancient human ancestors to become more energetic, alert, and focused to hunt and kill wild animals for food, multiply, fight for survival, or flee when the threat from the beasts became overwhelming. In this present age and environment where many people live a sedentary lifestyle working and living in houses well-protected from the threats of wild beasts and dangers, the fight or flee response is not very necessary as usual. However, the physiology of the human body has not adapted fully to the lifestyle of this technological age.
Although human beings in this present age do not frequently confront hungry and angry wild animals anymore like our ancient ancestors, the stress response remains the same. For example, your stress response is always activated when a car suddenly swerves into your own driving lane or when your shoe suddenly slides on a slippery snowy road. We no longer live under the threat of wild animals in the forest; however, our long work hours, long commutes, frustrating traffic jams, bad relationships and marriages, tough economy, mean bosses at work, errant kids, abusive spouses, negative newscasts from the media, abnormal and aggressive pursuit of material things, contributes highly to a life full of stress.
If you are constantly being stressed out, your adrenal glands become overworked which may lead to chronic adrenal fatigue and constant feeling of tiredness among other things. Health wise, we are all paying a great price for the constant or daily fight or flight response to the frenetic lifestyle imposed on the body by hustle and bustle of life in the fast lane and advanced technology. So far, the physiology of our body has not caught up with or adapted fully to the fast life of the present high-tech age. The natural reaction to both acute and chronic stress is commonly known in scientific terms as the “stress response.” This response to stress gives every human being, young and old, the ability to cope with daily problems and perform effectively under pressure, and carry daily burdens with patience and dignity.Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Jesus Christ Never Owned Any Property
Healing Miracles of Jesus Christ
Sunday, November 16, 2014
High Blood Pressure
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Reasons for Diabetes
Transcendental Meditation Enables You to Live Longer and Healthier
Reduce Your Stress with Transcendental Meditation
The meditative experience has a direct impact on physiological pathways that are involved in stress response. By inducing the “relaxation response” meditation reduces the stress level encountered by the body and decreases the levels of the major stress hormone called cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by two small glands located adjacent to the kidneys known as adrenal glands. This hormone is released by the body in response to stress during agitated, abnormal, and stressed states of the mind and body. In addition to being a biological marker of stress levels cortisol is very necessary for the metabolic functions of the body. The important functions of cortisol in the body include the regulation of blood pressure and cardiovascular functions, as well as the metabolic regulation of the body's use of nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) for energy. Secretion of cortisol into the blood increases in response to any stressful condition in the body such as temperature extremes, danger, sleeplessness, loss of love, death in the family, divorce, illness, trauma, surgery, and even successful events, results in the breakdown of muscle protein into smaller particles called amino acids, which are released into the bloodstream. The liver then converts amino acids into glucose for energy. This process raises the blood sugar level and provides more energy for the whole body; especially the brain. Cortisol also induces the release of fatty acids from fat cells which provides energy for the muscles. All together, energy provided and mobilized by the functions of cortisol enable the human body to deal with stressors and prevents total breakdown of the human system.
Meditation and the Hypothalami-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis
The HPA axis is the major physiological pathway for stress response. The body has a built-in mechanism for controlling and regulating the production and release of cortisol into the bloodstream during periods of stress. First, the hypothalamus of the brain produces and secretes corticotrophin releasing (CRH) which signals the pituitary gland, a small ductless gland at the base of the brain, to produce and release adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH), which consequently signals the adrenal glands to produce and release the stress hormone, cortisol. Immediately after a stressful event, the levels of CRH and ACTH increase, accompanied by an immediate rise in blood cortisol levels. When cortisol level in the blood is sufficient, a negative feedback mechanism alerts the hypothalamus and the pituitary to reduce the output of ACTH and CRH, respectively in order to reduce cortisol secretion. Abnormal blood levels of cortisol may lead to ill-health, various physical symptoms, and ailments. The good news from scientific research is that meditation decreases cortisol blood level.