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Rapid heartbeat that makes you feel like you are on the verge of a heart attack. Respiratory problems, joint pain and even blurred vision.
These may seem like the symptoms of a deadly disease. In fact, they’re just a selection of the things that go wrong with your body when you experience an emotion that 84 percent of Americans feel every week.
No doubt many will have suffered from stress over the last fortnight. According to surveys, most Americans consider the season of joy to be the most stressful time of the year.
Experts have long noted that stress affects almost every part of the body, and that the sensation is linked to a number of conditions including heart disease and intestinal problems.
And it’s no surprise, given the cascade of damage that occurs throughout the body when we start to feel overwhelmed.
Fleeting feelings of stress are normal and healthy. But when the emotion lasts more than a week or two, a cascade of bodily processes can cause serious damage.
“We are just beginning to scratch the surface regarding the effects of stress on the human body,” psychiatrist Dr Peter Zafirides told DailyMail.com.
“It’s a theme that underscores the intricate relationship between our mental state and our physical health.”
In 2018, a major study by researchers at the University of California found that people with emotional problems such as anxiety and depression were just as likely to suffer a stroke or heart disease as those who smoked or were obese.
Here, DailyMail.com reveals the fascinating chain reaction of events that happen within the body the moment stress strikes.
As you might expect, it all starts in the brain. Specifically, the amygdala in the center of the organ involved with emotion. When a trigger occurs, this region sends signals to the adrenal glands, telling them to release hormones called cortisol and adrenaline.
These are “fight or flight” hormones that tell the rest of the body that it is in danger.
Scientists don’t quite know why, but these substances send signals to apocrine glands in the armpits and groin, telling them to release water; or sweat.
Hormones also trigger an increased supply of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body, making you feel more alert as your heart races and your breathing quickens.
In small doses, this reaction is not harmful. Initially, stress was intended to protect our ancestors from being persecuted or injured while trying to survive.
But health complications arise when stress is chronic, meaning the feeling continues for more than a week.
Lauren Thayer, Registered Nurse at an Online Health Blog Health Channeltold DailyMail.com: “Stress is not always a bad thing, as it helps our body respond to things that are just that: stressful and out of the ordinary.”
However, at higher doses, stress can cause the entire body to react, leading to long-lasting health problems such as high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, headaches, and hormonal problems.
“Chronic stress that doesn’t go away is incredibly detrimental to your health and needs to be addressed,” Ms. Thayer said.
When you’re stressed, those surges in cortisol and adrenaline cause the heart to pump faster to accommodate the extra blood flow.
Blood vessels also begin to constrict, which increases blood pressure and makes it harder for blood to reach the heart muscles.
‘Both of these things will make your heart work harder. “Increased work on the heart, combined with chronic high blood pressure, increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke,” said Ms. Thayer.
Your muscles are also more likely to tense when you’re stressed, to protect them from injury. However, that tension can cause body, back and shoulder pain, and headaches.
“If you’re constantly stressed, your muscles may never fully relax,” Ms. Thayer said.
Rapid breathing can also aggravate asthma, which constricts the airways and causes difficulty breathing.
Constantly elevated cortisol triggers an inflammatory response in the body, which can attack the joints. Inflammation fuels joint conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, so stress could cause symptoms to become more pronounced.
“Within the joints, the interaction of stress and inflammation can amplify sensations of pain and stiffness, manifesting as discomfort in response to elevated levels of stress,” said Dr. Zafirides.
In times of stress, the liver produces elevated levels of glucose to increase energy. This causes blood sugar to rise. In the short term, high blood sugar can cause you to feel hungry, thirsty, or need to urinate more often. It can also cause headaches, blurred vision, and fatigue.
Stress hormones interact with compounds that determine how hungry or full we are.
This can cause food to move faster or slower through the digestive system, causing constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.
Stress also depletes prostaglandins, fats that help heal damaged tissue and absorb stomach acid. Without them, you are more prone to acid reflux.
This can also exacerbate peptic ulcers, open sores that form on the inner lining of the stomach and upper part of the small intestine. Although it can make symptoms worse due to this lack of protection against stomach acid, stress cannot cause them, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In small doses, the immune system can benefit from stress. “Stress stimulates the immune system, which helps it be prepared to avoid infections and injuries,” Ms. Thayer said.
However, too much stress eventually weakens the immune system, making it unable to fight off invaders such as viruses or bacteria.
“If someone suffers from chronic stress, it will probably take them longer to recover from a common cold and will also make them more susceptible,” Ms. Thayer said.
Meanwhile, excess sweating that is often linked to stress and anxiety can worsen conditions such as eczema or acne, Dr. Langham said.
Finally, if stress continues for too long, it can affect fertility. Brain imaging studies show that high levels of cortisol can disrupt the delicate balance of the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone and FH.
This means that women may find that their periods stop, are irregular, and may have cycles where they do not ovulate.
Dr. Langham adds that altered testosterone can also affect sperm production in men.