“Stress is the trash of modern life we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” ~Danzae Pace
Human body evolved on the concept of ‘fight or flight’. This gave rise to shoot up the level of certain hormones in order to produce prompt reactions to the situations.
Cortisol, dopamine, adrenaline, norepinephrine, glucagon and growth hormone are some of the hormones that are forced to escalate when your body experiences elevated pressure or stress. It happens so as to prepare your body to handle the adverse situations with quick reflexes. However, if the body falls into the habit of staying in the alert position, these levels of hormones can make your really sick.
“Stress is like spice – in the right proportion it enhances the flavor of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you.” ~ Donald Tubesing
Your anxious state is not related to just mental illness because it could be the root cause and invite too many other physical diseases as well. What to know how your body is getting affected by the effects of stress and anxiety?
Going by the organs…
1. Brain
The master of all the organs sits at the topmost position and controls your body functions. The connection between central nervous system and endocrine system helps to increase blood flow to the required organs at time of emergency. It is Hypothalamus, part of brain that sends out this message to glands which produce stress hormones to increase heartbeats to result hike in blood flow. However, CNS is supposed to instruct these glands to stop the production. If it fails, the whole system suffers the blunt.
Symptoms: Migraines, headaches, blackouts
2. Skin
Wondering how stress and skin can be related? Stress hormones are inflammatory cytokines that can cause skin eruptions like blisters, eczema, rashes or acne. At times of alertness, your skin becomes more sensitive and reactive to the changes. The oil production and sweating advances which could make your skin problems seem perennial.
Symptoms: Eczema, rashes, blisters and other dermatitis issues
3. Stomach
From esophagus to stomach have various secreting glands that play important role in breaking down the food. Since, your CNS focuses more on the ‘flight or fight’ situation; therefore the gut functions are compromised. It leads to improper mucus production, stomach acid production and other secretion.
Symptoms: ulcer disease, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal issues and food allergies
4. Intestine
The food you eat must be absorbed by the intestine. Since, the absorbing powers are forced to shun, your body suffers from malnutrition. This organ is the worst affected of all your intestines suffers from decreased oxygenation, reduced toxin removal and lesser production of digestive enzymes.
Symptoms: Crohn’s disease, intestine ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, pancreatic diseases, urinary diseases, IBD and more.
5. Immune System
Stress hormones decrease the lymphocytes, the white blood cells, which are responsible to fight from antigens like foreign bodies, cancer cells and viruses. This makes one susceptible to various diseases due to increased sensitivity and allergic reactions.
Symptoms: Fever and falling sick very often
6. Joints & Muscles
Have you noticed that on the day when you’ve excessive work load, you tend to complain of neck, shoulder and head aches? That’s because your stress levels were high which affected your musculoskeletal system. Imagine if you remain in squat position for longer than 3 hours. Quite impossible? That’s what happens to your muscles. When they remain touted and strained in response to alert notion, your body starts to pain even more.
Symptoms: weak bones, osteoporosis, joint pains and general weakness
7. Female Sex Organs
Female body is a whole lot of complex due to the reproductive organs which play their role in hormonal balance. However, stress causes on-off relationship of sex organs with rest of the body. This affects the production of sex hormones that further cause diseases.
Symptoms: Pre menstrual syndrome, early menopause, dying sexual activities and more
8. Male Sex Organs
Testosterone and stress have been studied to find the exact correlation between them. Many evidences have proved that stress does lowers down the libido, energy and interest during mating. Take it as you’d want to run from a forest fire rather have sexual encounter. Due to the release of Cortisol, testosterone levels in men that cause the lethargy.
Symptoms: Erectile dysfunction, low libido, decreased sexual desires, sleep troubles and more
9. Heart
Stress has direct links with blood pressure. Blood pressure affects the cardiovascular functions. Chronic stress induces cortisol levels to increase which eventually makes the arteries hardened and more susceptible to shrinkage. Also, the part of insulin resistance is played by stress as blood sugar remains high.
Symptoms: Arrhythmia, heart stroke, high BP and other cardiovascular implications
There’s less to do about the time that has to come. Also, getting worried about it and trying to feel in control will drive you into stressful lane. What to know how to reduce stress and anxiety without spending heaps of dollars?
