What are
some of the most significant health problems related to stress? Here's a
sampling.
Heart disease. Researchers have long
suspected that the stressed-out, type A personality has a higher risk of high
blood pressure and heart problems. We don't know why, exactly. Stress can
directly increase heart rate and blood flow, and causes the release of
cholesterol and triglycerides into the blood stream. It's also possible that
stress is related to other problems -- an increased likelihood of smoking or
obesity -- that indirectly increase the heart risks.
Doctors do know that sudden emotional
stress can be a trigger for serious cardiac problems, including heart attacks.
People who have chronic heart problems need to avoid acute stress -- and learn
how to successfully manage life's unavoidable stresses -- as much as they can.
Asthma. Many studies have shown that stress
can worsen asthma. Some evidence suggests that a parent's chronic stress might
even increase the risk of developing asthma in their children. One study looked
at how parental stress affected the asthma rates of young children who were
also exposed to air pollution or whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. The
kids with stressed out parents had a substantially higher risk of developing
asthma.
Obesity. Excess fat in the belly seems to
pose greater health risks than fat on the legs or hips -- and unfortunately,
that's just where people with high stress seem to store it. "Stress causes
higher levels of the hormone cortisol," says Winner, "and that seems
to increase the amount of fat that's deposited in the abdomen."
Diabetes. Stress can worsen diabetes in two
ways. First, it increases the likelihood of bad behaviors, such as unhealthy
eating and excessive drinking. Second, stress seems to raise the glucose levels
of people with type 2 diabetes directly.
Headaches. Stress is considered one of the
most common triggers for headaches -- not just tension headaches, but migraines
as well.
Depression and anxiety. It's probably no
surprise that chronic stress is connected with higher rates of depression and
anxiety. One survey of recent studies found that people who had stress related
to their jobs -- like demanding work with few rewards -- had an 80% higher risk
of developing depression within a few years than people with lower stress.
Gastrointestinal problems. Here's one thing
that stress doesn't do -- it doesn't cause ulcers. However, it can make them
worse. Stress is also a common factor in many other GI conditions, such as
chronic heartburn (or gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD) and irritable
bowel syndrome (IBS), Winner says.
Alzheimer's disease. One animal study found
that stress might worsen Alzheimer's disease, causing its brain lesions to form
more quickly. Some researchers speculate that reducing stress has the potential
to slow down the progression of the disease.
Accelerated aging. There's actually
evidence that stress can affect how you age. One study compared the DNA of
mothers who were under high stress -- they were caring for a chronically ill
child -- with women who were not. Researchers found that a particular region of
the chromosomes showed the effects of accelerated aging. Stress seemed to
accelerate aging about 9 to 17 additional years.
Premature death. A study looked at the
health effects of stress by studying elderly caregivers looking after their
spouses -- people who are naturally under a great deal of stress. It found that
caregivers had a 63% higher rate of death than people their age who were not
caregivers.