How Does the Stress Response Damage Your Health?

How Does the Stress Response Damage Your Health?

Evolution has twisted together the brain, hormones, and immunde system of primates, including us. The stress reaction that's so protective against short-term danger can wreak havoc on the body if it goes on too long, precisely because it throws the systems of the body so dramatically out of balance.

There are multiple ways for long-term stress to cause physical health problems. For example, the high blood pressure caused by the stress reaction damages blood vessels at particularly vulnerable spots over time and sticky plaques (atheromatous plaques) can build up. These conditions set the stage for a heart attack or stroke.

The stressed body also cuts back on functions that are not essential in the short run, such as bone formation and sperm production; these cutbacks may lengthen into serious disorders.

The immune system grows stronger when a threat erupts, but after a certain period under heavy stress the immune system is actually squelched -- making the individual more susceptible, say, to respiratory infections or AIDS opportunistice infections. Alternatively, stress can induce the immune system to actually turn on the body, resulting in such diseases as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

There is still some debate in the medical community about wheter stress directly causes physical disorders, or makes the body more susceptible to disorders and heightens their impact when they occur. But increasingly researchers are finding complex cause-and-effect connections. "Stress can make us sick," emphasizes Dr. Robert Sapolsky, "and a critical shift in medicine has been the reconition that many of the damaging diseases of slow accumulation can be either caused or made far worse by stress."

Following is a list of disorders associated with high/chronic stress. It was provided by Dr. Seema Khaneja, a pediatrician who teaches at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and works on stress in children, and vetted by McEwen.

Stress-Related Disorders

General:
• Headaches, including migraine
• Back/neck pain
• Dizziness
• Heartburn
• Constipation, diarrhea
• Chronic fatigue
• Insomnia
• Asthma
• Obesity
• Poor sexual performance
• Decreased sperm count
• Infertility
• Type II diabetes
• Exacerbation of Type I diabetes

Gastrointestinal system
• Inflammatory bowel disease (e.g., ulcerative colitis)
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Peptic ulcer disease

Cardiovascular system
• Irregular heartbeat
• Hypercholesterolemia
• Hypertension
• Atherosclerosis (deposit of fatty plaques in the arteries, including coronary arteries)
• Heart disease
• Heart attack

Infections
• Increased susceptibility to viral infections
in general (such as the common cold) and bacterial infections such as Strep pharyngitis (strep throat)

Autoimmune diseases
• Rheumatoid diseases
• Lupus

Skin disorders
• Exacerbation of eczema (atopic dermatitis)
• Delayed wound healing
• Increased time to clear psoriasis with standard therapy

Psychiatric disorders
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Eating disorders including anorexia nervosa

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