Tag Archives: stress

but stress does cause ulcers…

6 Replies

Zebras don’t get ulcers… when the lion chases a zebra all sorts of “stuff” happens inside of the zebra’s body that are healthy and life saving. Basically when the zebra sees the lion it says, “LION! holy shit!!” Then, the adrenal gland pushes out cortisol and adrenaline, the blood is shunted from the zebra’s organs to it’s muscles, it’s body mobilizes glucose from wherever it can, all systems are go and the zebra takes off. If it is lucky enough to escape then it sits under a shady tree, forgets all about the event (like it never happened), and eats some grass to restock its fuel sources. With that insulin rushes from its pancreas, muscles are restored with fuel, and the zebra lives to fight another day. This is an example of healthy stress (as long as you escape the claws/teeth and what have you). Without acute stressors in life we would actually die. The key here is that this is an acute stress not a chronic stress, chronic stress is a completely different matter. 

9734339-two-zebras-was-eating-grass.jpg

Chronic stress kills. Humans do get ulcers; unlike zebras, our stress is chronic. We hold on to every stress and magnify it. We feel entitled, take everything personally and obsessively focus on our problems… 24 hour news channels, non stop voyeurism that is created by social media, the loudest society ever known. This adds to our addiction to fear and stress… we are a zebra being chased by a lion, only we are on a never ending tread mill and with that the physiologic responses are much different then our four legged friend. Our stress is chronic, the body says “holy shit!!” the adrenal gland pushes out cortisol and adrenalin, blood is shunted from the intestine, the body mobilizes glucose (breaks down our muscle), we don’t fight or flee (instead we sit and stare at our phones or computers) blood sugar increases, insulin then is released leading to stored fat. Our brain does not recognize that we are not being chased and gets the signal to eat to replenish food stores (emotional eating). We crave the wrong foods (simple and unhealthy). Insulin continues to rush from the pancreas (eventually leading to insulin receptor burn out and adult onset diabetes), we store more fat… eventually sick, fat and nearly dead… oh yeah and more chronically stressed.


Ulcers? Why ulcers? Well, chronic stress has been shown to increase inflammation in the body. It also decreases the function of the immune system. And, decreases secretion of a part of the immune system called igA, which protexts the intestinal cells from disease. In turn, it increases permeability of the intestine and has been associated with leaky gut syndrome and ultimately ulcerations on the lining of your stomach.


Solutions to this problem are easier than you think. Fear and gratitude cannot coexist. When the brain is focuses on gratitude there really is no room for petty stress. Do yourself a favor and be more like the zebra. Don’t focus on how much you have to do, or how bad it is; instead focus on what you have. Make everyday a Thanksgiving. What do you have to be grateful for?


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/chronic-stress-health-inflammation-genes_n_4226420.html

http://www.smartnutrition.co.uk/health-tests/secretory-iga/

http://scdlifestyle.com/2010/03/the-scd-diet-and-leaky-gut-syndrome/

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

1 Reply

happy.pngI don’t know about you, but it seems like I’m constantly sick during the school year. Currently, I’m on the sixth week of a sinus infection and ear infection in both ears that’s not cooperating with my antibiotics. During the last two and a half years of my college career, I’ve had mononucleosis (“mono”), influenza (“the flu”), “walking” pneumonia, sinus infections, ear infections, and several cases of the common cold. This might seem normal to some of you, but definitely not for me. I didn’t have a single “sick day” during middle or high school. So what changed over the years that makes me so susceptible to illness? I did some research to get to the bottom of this.

For one, I eat much healthier now and I take a multivitamin everyday, which are things I didn’t necessarily do in high school. But I definitely feel more stress and pressure, especially now that I’m a junior. According to a <a href = “http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/content/58/5/404.full.pdf+html?sid=241e1bf6-3818-404c-8b58-68a979ad9069”>study</a> conducted by Psychosomatic Medicine, psychosocial stress increases an individual’s susceptibility to infectious illness. They came to this conclusion with an observational study of 107 adults, ranging in ages from 18-65. For twelve months before the study, life event stress was measured.

The results showed that cigarette smoking, sleep habits, or exercise made no difference in one’s susceptibility to illness. Surprisingly, alcohol consumption was lower among those who experienced verified upper respiratory illnesses. Most significantly, the study presented that the risk of infectious illness was greater in those who experienced high life event stress both before and during the study. Interestingly, this was not true for those who had avoidant coping styles.

I wanted to make sure this study was done well and reliable, so I looked into the specifics. It involved 52 men and 55 women of a mainly middle-class residential area. This seems like a somewhat representative study, although it is still fairly small in size. Since the study was observational, the results could be a cause of chance and/or third-party variables. However, given the attention to detail in this study, I will believe that increased stress in my life will lead to increased susceptibility to illness.

Finals week is fast-approaching, and its bringing along a good amount of stress. How do you feel about the results of this study? Do you think you seem to get sick easier when you are feeling extra stressed?

Can Your Childhood Socioeconomic Status Impact Your Brain Function? Part 1

Leave a reply

A recent study suggests that the stress that comes from living in poverty can have a negative impact on brain development in children. The stress purportedly stunts development and alter how these children react in emotional situations when they grow up to be adults. I will be analyzing the study design in this blog, and be discussing its implications in the next.

The first thing to note about this study is that it is an observational study. This isn’t a bad thing; it just means that it’s going to be harder to draw out concrete evidence without an appropriate sample size that eliminates third variables. It’s unethical place kids in poverty for an experiment, so the only real way to perform this study is through observation. The study chose children who were impoverished at the age of nine, and measured brain activity when presented with stressful situations at age 24


.

Now, I said we need a large enough sample size for this study to provide and applicable conclusion right? Yeah, well, the sample size is 49. Only half of those in the sample are people who were impoverished as children, with the rest acting as control.

The need for a control group in a study like this is real and necessary, but the sample is way too small. As of 2010, 16.4 Million children live in poverty in the U.S. A selection of 24-25 of those kids isn’t going to be representative of the entire population of impoverished children in the U.S. There are race, health, gender, geographical, and familial variables that simply can’t be accounted for in such a small sample.

To make the issue even worse: this is a sample of only U.S. children. Poverty could affect people differently all around the world. It is impossible to generalize any result from this study to such a large population of poor children throughout the world.

So, now that we know that we must take the results of this study with a large grain of salt, I’ll discuss the findings of this study and the science behind them.

Stress & the Brain

1 Reply

Stressors such as poverty, family turmoil, and family separation cause anxiety for any age. A study performed by UIC, Cornell University, University of Michigan and University of Denver found that these stressors can cause permanent brain dysfunction on individuals who experience this at a young age. 

The study examined 49 individuals whose data on family income, prior experience with stress, physiological stress responses, socio-emotional development, and parent-child interactions were collected. Half of the individuals studied were from lower-income families. 
Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the participants brain as they performed an emotional-regulating activity. They were asked to regulate their negative emotions using a coping strategy. The activity was used because the strategy that they utilize will likely be the day-to-day coping strategy of the participant. In other words, the coping mechanism that they select during this activity will likely be the same as the strategy they use while dealing with stress and negative emotions in their daily life.
The study found through the imaging that the test subjects who had lower family incomes at the age of 9 used more of the amygdala. The amygdala part of the brain is known for its role in fear and other emotions. The individuals, however, showed less activity in the area of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, whose function is thought to regulate negative emotions. Essentially, those who experienced stress at a young age use a part of the brain associated with fear and negative emotions, and not the more typical prefrontal area, the regulates negative emotions.
This idea makes sense to me because when exposed to that much stress at such a young age must alter decision-making and regulating abilities. It is likely an influential time in a child’s life that can alter the way they deal with things for their entire life. In an article written by Urban Child Institute, it says that, “High levels of early stress have been linked to impaired behavioral and emotional development as well as numerous health consequences later in life, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.”
Apparently, not only does stress at a young age affect the brain, but many other parts of the body that have a lasting influence on the individual throughout their life. 

Stress Management and Yoga for College Students

9 Replies

yoga.jpg

 

As young adults, college students build up stress from school, classes, family matters, friends, and social situations. Without a release of this stress, your body will take a toll. Pent up stress can lead to many physical and psychological effects that are bound to frustrate you even more. The most common of these side effects include headaches, muscle aches, nausea, insomnia, and difficulty concentrating. It’s extremely important to find a way to release the stress of day-to-day life.

Yoga is a practice of uniting the mind and physical body as one. It combines breathing exercise, meditation, and physical positions. This combination is believed to reduce many physical and mental ailments that are caused by stress. Multiple studies have shown that yoga can reduce back pain, lower heart rate and blood pressure, relieve several psychological conditions, and improve physical fitness and flexibility. An NCCAM-funded study of 90 people concluded that chronic lower-back and depression significantly decreased after six months of practice. Even more interesting is that a 2011 study of 313 adults had less lower-back pain after 12 weekly yoga classes than they did from typical medical care.

 

Yoga is offered at a number of places in State College, including several times a week at the White Building (with a gym membership), and at the Student Health Center (Tuesday and Thursday evenings). Since there are many types of yoga being practiced, it is important to be familiar with what to expect and to be realistic about your physical limits.

http://www.stress.org/stress-effects/

http://www.lululemon.com/education/yoga/

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/yoga/introduction.htm