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More common of which include posttraumatic stress disorder, amajor depression, generalized anxierty, and multiple personality disorders. Hopefully will attempt to explain ways to cure ones illness’s caused by Stress. Stress is an adaptive response. The more stress one puts on themselves the weaker their immune system then becomes. A weakened immune system will become susceptible to disease and injury. Stress is the body’s reaction to an even that is seen as emotionally disturbing or threatening. To prepare for such an event, the body increases its heart rate and blood pressure; more blood is then sent to your heart and muscles, and your respiration rate increases. There are a variety of steps that stress will take biologically on your body. To prepare for such an event that may be stressful, the body increases its heart rate and blood pressure; more blood is then sent to your heart and muscles, and your respiration rate increases. In the first stage of stress, alarm, the body mobilizes its "fight or flight" defenses, either to resist the stress-causing factor or adapt to it. In this stage, the pituitary-adrenocortical system pours hormones into the bloodstream. The pulse quickens, the lungs take in more oxygen to fuel the muscles, blood sugar increases to supply added energy, digestion slows, and perspiration increases. This is just the beginning of what happens. In the second stage of stress, resistance, the body begins to repair the incidental damage caused by the arousal in the alarm stage. If the stressful situation is resolved, the stress symptoms vanish. If the stressful situation continues, however, a third stage, exhaustion, sets in, and the body's adaptive energy runs out. This stage can continue until some vital organs are affected, and then disease or even death can occur. There are three types of stress, mental, physical, chemical. These different variations of stress all cause similar effects to one's body. Each of these stresses can come from many sources. Most of these have appeared as a primary threat in our environment. Mental stress occurs from a shock as severe as the death of a loved one or from a simple thing like a broken alarm clock making one late for work. Physical stress on the body can be caused by anything from not getting adequate sleep to a severe whiplash injury from a car accident. In addition, there is a chemical stress which may come from environmental pollution, the side affects of medications or even consumption of overly refined food. Compounding all this is the tension cycle, in which mental stress triggers physical stress or vice versa, leading to a downward spiral of health and happiness and an increasingly painful series of symptoms. Mental stress and Physical Stress are linked due to the fact that if one has mental stress it can cause physical stress. Man's response to psychological stress differs little from sources of potential physical harm. Physical symptoms may include a headache, upset stomach, muscle tension, neck or backache, rapid breathing, sweaty palms, and exhaustion. Mentally, you may feel distracted, have trouble concentrating, be illogical or forgetful, or you may have scary thoughts or feel suspicious. Also, you may become easily irritated and impatient, or you may feel tense, depressed, angry or alone and you may also have a difficulty sleeping. Chemical Stress, however, is cause from manmade substances or objects. Our body to make a certain number and quality of enzymes, antibodies, and hormones. These are the end products. The raw materials to make these end products come from our foods. Lack of a suffiecient diet can cause chemical stress. Chemical stress can also come from pesticides, insecticides, polluted air and water, heavy metals such as mercury or lead, asbestos and artificial food additives. Stress in general causes the immune system to weaken to a great extent. There are many health problems related to diminished immune systems including allergies and susceptibility to different diseases such as fungus and yeast infections. With the premature degeneration the stress will cause an acceleration in the aging and the break down of tissues. This kind of explains the myth that stress makes you grow gray hair. Other Physical problems such as cellular damage are caused by highly unstable molecules called free radicals. Because of the highly unstable nature of the "free radicals", they can be extremely toxic and are a primary result of stress that undermine the immune system and threaten health. Interestingly enough, the body's immune system actually produces these highly toxic free radicals in small amounts because they are essential for the immune system to remove a virus or bacteria. It is only when high concentration of free radicals are present, or when the level of free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to remove them, does a threat actually occur to our health. Maintaining the balance between free radical activity and antioxidant enzyme supply is one of the important functions of the body. It is in the cell where free radicals are created and do the most damage. In the case of the immune system, this random circulation of the free radicals (molecules with an unpaired electron which is seeking to bind with any and everything) cause communication break down between the immune system cells and the body, weakening or wiping out some of their signals. Simply put excess amounts of the free radicals create chemical reactions at the wrong place at the wrong time causing havoc with the cellular environment. In doing so, the excess amounts of the free radicals cause break down of the immune systems (i.e.allergic reaction or auto immune reaction). Again, stress (of all types) and the resultant free radicals are a primary cause in weakening of the immune system and accelerated degenerative process. There are two kinds of stress. Good Stress, which is a positive reinforcement for human nature, and Bad Stress that can cause a variety of diseases. Major causes of stress include illness, job changes, moving, separations and divorces, deaths in the family, and financial difficulties. But even joyous events, like marriage, the arrival of a baby, or entertaining guests, can be stressful activities. Stress also appears to be associated with heart disease. While evidence to date does not suggest that stress management strategies can be the only therapy to prevent or treat cardiovascular disease, some stress reduction techniques, when used regularly, can be a valuable addition to other behavioral, dietary, and medical interventions for reducing the risks of heart disease. Stress has also been said to be related to blood pressure. You can have high blood pressure without feeling stressed or tense. However, continual stress may lead to permanently elevated blood pressure. Stress is also associated with the nervous system. Stress activates a group of neurons in the brainstem that project widely to other regions of the central nervous system. When these neurons are stimulated by stress, they release transmitter norepinephrine which, in addition to arousing the brain, causes the activation of the c-fos gene in the target cells. The c-fos protein, in turn, is known to activate other genes that may produce prolonged changes in the function of the brain to stress is a key event in causing persistent psychiatric disorders following stress. Bibliography: Word Count: 1244
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