Stress is thought to be major risk factor in many health disorders. Basically it is a psychological process stimulated by events that harm, threats or challenge an organism. Stress is also called as depreciation on the body in response to stressful agents and these agents are known as stressors. Stressors could be physiological, physical or sociocultural. In short, it is a conscious or unconscious psychological feeling or physical situation which comes due to physical, mental positive and negative pressure and totally depends on your adaptive capacities. Stress, one such condition which is highly individualized and totally depends on variables like rate, intensity, duration, novelty, personal interpretation of the input, genetic or experiential factors. Acute, Chronic, Acute episodic are some of the common types of stress. Work pressure, problems in relationship, a disturbed family life is some of the common causes which are linked with stress. This extreme stress further lead to various life threatening health disorders such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s diseases, depression, gastrointestinal problem, asthma and many more.
LIST OF DISEASES LINKED WITH STRESS
Heart disease:-
Several studies have revealed that huge stress is closely linked with life threatening high blood pressure and heart problem. Stress has been directly linked to increase heart rate, blood flow, expel of cholesterol and lipids into the blood stream. Stress is also associated with other various problems such as likelihood of smoking or obesity which increase chances of heart risk. According to doctors, sudden emotional stress can trigger of chronic cardiac problem including heart attack. So, it is essential to avoid acute stress for people suffering from chronic heart problem.
Diabetes:-
The condition of stress is responsible for worsening diabetes in two ways. Firstly, it stimulates the likelihood of bad behaviors like poor eating habit and excess alcohol consumption. Secondly, stress enhances the glucose level of diabetes of people suffering from type 2 diabetes directly.
Anxiety and depression:-
It might not surprise that chronic stress is linked with extreme depression and anxiety. One recent study has disclosed that people who had stress, is mostly due huge work pressure. In addition, 80 percent of people have high risk of developing depression in people with immense stress.
Asthma:-
Several studies have proven that stress can worsen asthma. Some studies indicate that parent’s chronic stress may enhance the risk of asthma in their children. Besides that it was also found that children with stressed out parents had considerably higher risk of developing asthma.
Obesity:-
People with high stress experience excess fat in belly which puts extreme pressure on the legs or hips and it happens because people with huge stress store it. Studies have found that stress induces higher level of hormone cortisol, which is high responsible for raising the amount of fat that deposited in the abdomen.
Alzheimer’s disease:-
One study conducted on animal has shown that stress worsen Alzheimer’s disease. It happens because stress induced brain lesions to form instantly. Therefore, physicians always recommend to reduce stress for people with alzheimers diseases in order to slow down the progression of the diseases.
Premature death:-
Several studies have found that elderly caregivers who look after their spouses are at a higher risk of developing stress. Studies found that 63 percent of caregivers goes through premature death than people their age who were not caregivers.
Gastrointestinal problems:-
Recent studies have found that stress does not cause ulcers but it is responsible for making them worse. It is believed that stress is one of the most common factor gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic heartburn (gastroesophageal reflux disease, GERD)
Digestive problems and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Common stomach problems like nausea and stomach ache are sometimes without medical causes are also related with stress. According to studies, IBS or irritable bowel syndrome including bloating, diarrhea, constipation, cramps are also believed to be partly stress related problems.
Sleep disorders:-
One of the most common effect of stress that person cannot get sufficient sleep which further leads to severe problem like insomnia. On the other hand continuing sleep deprivations may make you feel irritable or tired and can contributes to accidents. Thus hypnotherapy and meditation can be a great option to get rid of stress related insomnia.
Self medication like alcohol. Drugs, cigarette and food:-
You might have observed that most of the people choose the option of alcohol, cigarette, food and even drugs in order to cope with the problem of extreme stress. Definitely intake of a glass of wine may help you to relax and a bar of chocolate can cheer you. But keep in mind that if you consume any of the above in excess quantity can badly affect your health. This in turn may lead to more stress and it may become more difficult for you to face other difficulties. Hence it would better if you take professional help because overindulging and addiction of certain injurious things is often a greater risk than other stress related conditions.
Cardiac diseases causes by stress:-
Research indicates that due to extreme stress various cardiac diseases may also take place. However the list of such diseases include hypertension, heart attack, high blood cholesterol, palpitations, cardiac dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, ventricular Aneurysm and poor blood circulation.
Psychological and mental effects of stress:-
Lack of concentration, hair loss or early graying of hair, poor judgment, hypersensitive, cant able to see positive side of things, confused mind, excessive anger, lack of confidence, eating too much or too little, sleep disorders, overreacting to any situation, frequent headache, breathing problem, muscle pain, irregular heartbeat are also some possible effects of huge stress on the body. Besides that, skin problem, infertility, male impotence and irregular period may also take place due to extreme stress.
Affect immune system:-
Stress is also associated with poor immune system. Thus due to poor immune system problems like Eczema, psoriasis, oral and genital herpes, crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are some of the immune disorders occurs due to stress.