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What is stress & how does it affect a person?
What are the symptoms of stress?
Can stress be a sign of other health problems?
Aug 10, 2023 · Learn how stress can affect your health, mood and behavior, and find tips to manage it. Stress can cause headaches, anxiety, overeating, muscle tension, chest pain, fatigue, memory problems and more.
- Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk
The long-term activation of the stress response system and...
- Stress Basics
Don't wait until stress damages your health, relationships...
- Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk
- Overview
- Central nervous and endocrine systems
- Respiratory and cardiovascular systems
- Digestive system
- Muscular system
- Sexuality and reproductive system
- Immune system
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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 stress from 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
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.
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.
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.
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...
Stress is exhausting for both the body and mind. It’s not unusual to lose your desire when you’re under constant stress. While short-term stress may cause men to produce more of the male hormone testosterone, this effect doesn’t last.
If stress continues for a long time, a man’s testosterone levels can begin to drop. This can interfere with sperm production and cause erectile dysfunction or impotence. Chronic stress may also increase risk of infection for male reproductive organs like the prostate and testes.
For women, stress can affect the menstrual cycle. It can lead to irregular, heavier, or more painful periods. Chronic stress can also magnify the physical symptoms of menopause.
What are the causes of inhibited sexual desire? »
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.
Keep reading: Learn tips on managing your stress »
Stress triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response, which can cause negative health effects on your mood, immune, digestive, cardiovascular, and muscular systems. Learn how chronic stress can increase your risk of heart attack, diabetes, ulcers, and sexual problems.
- Ann Pietrangelo
Stress is the body's reaction to harmful situations, and it can affect your emotions, behaviors, thinking ability, and physical health. Learn about the symptoms of stress, the consequences of long-term stress, and how to manage it.
- Acne. Some studies have found that higher levels of stress are associated with increased bouts of acne (11). One reason for this may be because when some people feel stressed out, they tend to touch their faces more often.
- Headaches. Many studies have found that stress can contribute to headaches, a condition characterized by pain in the head, face, or neck region. A 2015 study showed that increased stress intensity was associated with an increase in the number of headache days experienced per month (15).
- Chronic pain. Aches and pains are a common complaint that can result from increased levels of stress. Some studies have found that chronic pain may be associated with higher levels of stress as well as increased levels of cortisol, which is the body’s main stress hormone.
- Frequent sickness. If you feel like you’re constantly battling a case of the sniffles or other sickness, stress may be to blame. Stress may take a toll on your immune system.
Headaches, dizziness or shaking. High blood pressure. Muscle tension or jaw clenching. Stomach or digestive problems. Trouble having sex. Weak immune system. Stress can lead to emotional and mental symptoms like: Anxiety or irritability. Depression. Panic attacks. Sadness.
Nov 1, 2018 · Stress also may make swallowing foods difficult or increase the amount of air that is swallowed, which increases burping, gassiness, and bloating. Stomach. Stress may make pain, bloating, nausea, and other stomach discomfort felt more easily. Vomiting may occur if the stress is severe enough.
