Stress increases chances of diseases

[chaekyu]

Most people agree that stress has increased to new heights within the last few years. The physical and emotional stress may result in chronic fatigue, painful muscles and joints, anger, depression, decreased performance and even cancer.

[aeunjoo]

I am asthmatic, and most of the times when I?m stressful; I get these kinds of attacks.

Still, I would like to know...to how much, stress and asthma are connected?

Can stress be dangerous for asthmatic people?

[franti]

You are right, there is no research evidence to support it. But there is evidence that stress is implicated in anxiety, depression, infertility, panic attacks, insomnia and sleep problems, anger, and a whole shed load of other conditions.

Stressed people produce more adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortical than other people and there is evidence that these 'fight or flight' stress hormones can have a damaging effect upon every major organ or the body including the heart and depress the auto-immune system. Asthma is a disease of the autoimmune system so there may be some relationship.

[David]

Its true. Actually it makes sense that a stressful situation can bring on an attack of asthma since the airways get over reactive. Stress messes up a lot of immune related problems. Diabetes is one of them. And its because of the cortisol that is released when you are stressed out since this suppresses the body's immune response. This makes you more vulnerable to infectious diseases. I read somewhere that thanks to stress, even AIDs patients can get worse. They probably get stressed out because of their condition, lack of support and becoming unable to cope with the situation.

Stress aggravates bacterial infections also because the person's defense mechanism is down. So its hardly surprising when your doc tells you that your skin irritation is because of stress! Stress can make the bacteria invade your muscles, fat and skin tissue in such a way that it could even cause terminal illness, making your lungs, liver, kidney and other vital organs fail.

We mostly hear of flu accompanied by cold and developing into pneumonia when life turns stressful - cold again is because of low resistence. So it actually looks like stress can cause anything!

[Marie]

These days most doctors are recommending exercise for stress relief. The benefits are tremendous and you just lose the symptoms of stress gradually. Exercise helps both body and mind because you lose your tension and all those pent up frustrations. If you are prone to depression when your stress levels are high, exercise can help by raising the release of chemicals called endorphins in your brain. Its important to take up an exercise routine that you enjoy. It should also be strenuous enough for you to release your energy – only then can you feel relaxed when you are through with it. Cardiovascular exercises help you do this.

My favorite way to beat stress is to spend time in nature. Somehow I find it very calming on my mind and emotions. A walk around the neighborhood or in a nearby park, watching animals, cultivating a garden – are all ways in which we can let go of stress.

[Leo]

I’ve heard that Meditation alone can be a form of stress relief since this process also relaxes the mind. Apparently there are two kinds of meditation – the one where you need not focus and the meditation where you need to focus.

In the meditation that you need not focus, you need not concentrate on anything. Just sit comfortably, close your eyes and chant mantras. This leads to a relaxed mind. In the method where you need to focus, you can focus on any object, or picture or sound and inhale and exhale deeply for about half an hour. Basically it helps your mind concentrate without any distraction and relaxes you gradually.

There is also transcendental meditation, which is a different way of doing it.