Your Health Matters

Juggling the holiday season and the month of January are considered the most stressful times of the year for families. Balancing work and family is difficult enough on a normal day, but add the commotion of commitments and spending more money than is going to be in the bank- causes the adrenaline to flow!

Stress occurs when the body does not adjust properly to internal or external stimuli. The body's reaction to highly stressful situations is known as the "fight-or-flight" response. Under these circumstances, quantities of epinephrine (also called adrenaline), a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, are released into the blood. This stimulates the liver to provide the body with stored carbohydrates for extra energy. Other changes include quickened heartbeat and respiration, and increased blood pressure and muscle tension. The body is then prepared for extraordinary physical exertion; if none is forthcoming, this frustrated readiness may cause headache, upset stomach, irritability and a host of other symptoms.

While stress alone probably does not cause illness, it contributes to circumstances in which disease may take hold and flourish. Stress weakens and disturbs the body's defense mechanisms and may play a role in the development of hypertension, gastrointestinal problems, cardiovascular disease, flare-ups in arthritis, and, as recent research indicates, possibly cancer.

In today's fast-paced, clamoring world, the body may find itself in frequent fight-or-flight responses to work pressures, noise pollution, overcrowding, and other stressful situations where direct physical outlets would not be appropriate. Under prolonged stress, the body's adaptive and resistance mechanisms may become exhausted, and hormonal changes may weaken the body's defenses against disease.

Many years ago, Johns Hopkins and the University of Washington conducted research regarding stressful events in patient's lives, assigning differential values to the many relevant categories. In examining a resulting chart, we can see that life events may be either tragic or joyful; the common denominator among them is change. The more changes an individual undergoes during a given time span, the more points he or she accumulates and the greater the individual's likelihood of having stress, a serious illness or accident. For example, statistics indicate that a person who scores between 150 and 300 points during a particular period runs a 50-50 risk of falling seriously ill within two years. If the score exceeds 300, this likelihood shoots up to 80 percent.

Here are some of the Life Event Ratings: (1) Death of spouse - 100; (2) Divorce - 73; (5) Death of close family member - 63; (6) Personal injury or illness - 63; (7) Marriage - 50; (10) Retirement - 45; (11) Change in health of family member - 44; (16) Change in financial state - 38; (18) Change to different line of work - 36; (19) Change in number of arguments with spouse - 35; (20) Mortgage or loan for a major purpose - 31; (21) Foreclosure of mortgage or loan - 30; (23) Son or Daughter leaving home - 29; (24) Trouble with in-laws - 29; (25) Outstanding personal achievement - 28; (30) Trouble with boss - 23; (32) Change in residence - 20; (35) Change in church activities - 19; (40) Change in eating habits - 15; (41) Vacation - 13. You can go online and Google on The Social Readjustment Rating Scale and get the complete list and see how stressed-out you are!?

CONTROLLING STRESS: One of the most important findings of these studies is that most people can exercise a degree of life-style restraints to control the number of stress-inducing changes. The lesson is not that all change is bad, but that there are recognizable thresholds beyond which additional change becomes health threatening.

Other research points toward the benefits of regulating emotional and physiological responses to stressful events; thus many people are learning to counteract life's pressures through breathing exercises, meditation techniques and regular participation in sports (exercise). These relaxation techniques can block the action of epinephrine and norepinephrine, the adrenal hormones directly responsible for stress-induced changes. Try to learn to accept things you can't change. You don't have to solve all of life's problems. Talk out your troubles and look for the good instead of the bad in situations. Just remember, "This too shall pass…"

Claudia Parks, RN is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband make their home in the beautiful north Georgia Mountains. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream.net