PREVENTIVE MEDECINE: THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF STRESS
These are many and profound. When an individual, whether with justification or not, finds a situation stressful, his or her body undergoes a ‘fight or flight’ reaction. This is a primitive response seen in all animals but most animals don’t meet life-or-death situations that trigger off this response very often. The problem with human beings is that their way of life has set them up to perceive many things as stressful and they react biologically to stimuli that do not affect the animal world generally. This occurs partly, of course, because humans are so complex emotionally and psychologically. The body’s reactions to stress are:
• The hypothalamus (a part of the brain) initiates a number of hormonal changes.
• The pituitary gland is activated by the hypothalamus and in turn activates the adrenal glands
to produce more adrenaline and non-adrenaline. These powerful hormones do many things
but the main ones are:
• The heart beats more powerfully and faster
• The pupils of the eyes dilate
• The blood pressure rises
• The muscles tense
• The breathing rate increases
• Blood is directed from the digestive system and the skin to other more vital functions
• Blood flow to the kidneys is reduced so as to reduce urine output
• Saliva dries up
• The liver releases stored glucose for energy
• The immune system (which fights infection) shuts down temporarily
In the average stressful situation these changes are temporary and normality resumes after the stress-inducing situation is past. However, for many of us in the West today many or all of these changes become an almost permanent feature of the way our bodies work, as one stressful event follows another. This produces symptoms such as:
Headaches
Dizziness
Sweating
Coiled legs
Hair twisting
Finger drumming
Clenched fists
Nail biting
High blood pressure
Allergies
Ulcers
Skin rashes
Depression
Unreasonable fears
Breathlessness
Little interest in life
Poor appetite
Nervous tics and twitches
A fear of becoming ill
Poor self-esteem
Difficulty in relaxing
Difficulty with concentration
Hunched shoulders
A worried frown
A gripped thumb
Clenched teeth
Insomnia
Blurred vision
Swallowing difficulties
Sex problems
Heartbeat irregularities
Indigestion
Backache
Colitis
Irritability
Disturbed sleep
Fatigue and tiredness much of the time
A tendency to cry
Aching shoulders and neck muscles
Food cravings between meals
Smoking or drinking to calm yourself
Feeling neglected or let down
Feeling a failure towards others
Rarely laughing
Feeling uncomfortable touching or being touched
None of these conditions is a ‘disease’ in itself but a combination of several reduces the quality of life and many of them together can reduce a person almost to the point where he or she is unable to cope with everyday life. Many of these conditions will be dealt with more fully in the body of the book and even though there are other reasons for many, if not most, of them stress is probably the commonest.
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