Did you know chronic stress can kill you? Know more ways to de-stress yourself

Chronic stress can be really lethal, causing heart attacks, stroke,irritable bowel syndrome and weight gain. Dr Sharon Horesh MD has asserted that in the short term, stress can be advantageous, but when the body experiences it for too long it can damage the body’s organs and cells, the Independent reported. In her Ted Ed video ‘How stress affects the body,’ Horesh outlines the five ways a body can be affected by chronic stress, in addition to the more recognised ways such as acne, hair loss, sexual dysfunction, headaches, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating and fatigue. The hormones cortisol and adrenaline are released in to the blood stream by the adrenaline gland when a person experiences a stress response. Adrenaline increases the heartbeat and blood pressure and in the long term can cause hypertension, while long term release of cortisol in the blood can lead to cholesterol plaque build-up in the arteries. Both of these issues can lead to an increased chance of a heart attack or stroke.

Stress also affects the intestinal nervous system, which can affect the way food is moved naturally moved through the gut and can lead to irritable bowel syndrome. Cortisol can increase a person’s appetite and cravings for comfort foods, which tend to be energy dense and carb-loaded, causing weight gain. High levels of cortisol cause visceral fat weight gain. This kind of fat releases hormones and immune system chemicals that can increase the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease. Chronic stress can deplete the effectiveness of immune cells and increase the risk of infection. This can also slow down the rate that the body heals.

Here are some ways to de-stress yourself for better, longer life:

Stress has become as common as flu. Young adults as well as teenagers are stressed these days. While it is best to stay stress-free for a healthy lifestyle, as per a new study, longevity hormone is lower in stressed and depressed women. Women under chronic stress have significantly lower levels of klotho, a hormone that regulates aging and enhances cognition, was found in a study comparing mothers of children on the autism spectrum to low-stress controls.

The researchers found that the women in their study with clinically significant depressive symptoms had even lower levels of klotho in their blood than those who were under stress but not experiencing such symptoms. The study is the first to show a relationship between psychological influences and klotho, which performs a wide variety of functions in the body.

The findings suggest that klotho, which they now know is very important to health, could be a link between chronic stress and premature disease and death, adding that since the study is observational, they cannot say that chronic stress directly caused lower klotho levels, but the new connection opens avenues of research that converge upon aging, mental health, and age-related diseases.

Scientists know from their work in mice and worms that, when klotho is disrupted, it promotes symptoms of aging, such as hardening of the arteries and the loss of muscle and bone, and when klotho is made more abundant, the animals live longer. Chronic stress transmits risk for bad health outcomes in aging, including cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease, adding that it will be important to figure out if higher levels of klotho can benefit mind and body health as women age. Therapeutics or lifestyle interventions that increase the longevity hormone could have a big impact on people’s lives.