Posts Tagged ‘Stress’

Is There a Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes and Depression?

Research has shown people who have stress and psychological strain, or suffer any mental condition with depression as a symptom, have high blood sugar levels as a result of the way different hormones respond to stress. Therefore, a person who suffers with depression has a high possibility of developing type 2 diabetes.

Although for years it was thought depression was a complication of type 2 diabetes, studies are now showing stress and depression are also a cause.

A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) conducted by Dr. Sherita Hill Golden in 2008, on the association between depressive symptoms and type 2 diabetes, revealed:

* there is a modest relationship between depressive symptoms and type 2 diabetes
* there was no link with depression and untreated high blood sugar levels and undiagnosed type 2 diabetes
* with treated type 2 diabetes, there was definitely a positive association Read more…

Is This a Panic Anxiety Attack Or Just Stress?

Many people believe that stress and anxiety are the same. But this is definitely not the case. Experiencing stress and having an actual anxiety attack are quite different. So what are the differences between the two?

Stress is caused from pressure that we experience in our day to day lives. We can experience stress at work, at home or just by keeping company with certain people. When the body experiences stress, the pressure that we are feeling in our mind and body causes adrenaline to be released and our blood pressure to rise. There is also a release of the hormone that causes one to be depressed.

Stress is caused by something existing. Any situation, thought or experience that makes us feel frustrated, upset, nervous or even anxious can cause a person to be stressed. A person who is under lots of stress can feel anxiety, but this anxiety will normally go away when the cause of the stress is eliminated. Read more…

How Stress Makes Women Fat (and How to Get Rid of Both!)

We’ve all seen those commercials on TV that warn of “stubborn belly fat” brought on by too much stress. The pills being hawked on these programs promise to block the stress hormone, cortisol.

Ever wonder if there’s any truth to what they’re saying?

The Truth
Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland in your adrenal cortex. It’s your body’s modern-day answer to the “fight or flight” responses we had to stress (back when we were true hunters and gatherers).

Cortisol:

- Increases blood pressure and blood sugar

- Breaks down lipids and proteins (in case you’d rather ‘fight’ than ‘flight’)

- Acts as a water diuretic hormone (leading to dehydration)

- Physically eats away at the pleasure centers of the brain (producers of norepinephrine, epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine)

So cortisol DOES exist and is indeed harmful to the body if left unchecked. Read more…

Avoiding Stress Related Illnesses

Eliminate stressors in your life and lighten your stress load. That’s certainly easier said than done. We all have multiple responsibilities, deadlines, commitments and family matters which need to be dealt with on a daily basis. So, how can you eliminate these stressors and avoid stress related illnesses?

First, you need to develop a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly) and prioritize your tasks. When you try to maintain a schedule – in your head-without writing it down and prioritizing, you add more stress to your life. All things are mulling around at once and you have a hard time completing tasks before you have to move on to the next one. Nothing ever gets completed and many things get overlooked. So, begin removing stressors from your life with the help of a schedule – and follow it!

Get organized. Combine like tasks, such as running errands. It’s beneficial to plan your out-and-about errands so that you can complete them with the least amount of driving. This will save your cost of gasoline and eliminate any waste of time. Read more…

Public Speaking Fears: You have no need to fear public speaking, here's why

There are many reasons why someone may fear public speaking. The most common is the fear of embarrassment that may result from failure involving the speech. There are many parallels between public speaking fears and social phobia, agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Many people with public speaking fears do not volunteer to do public speaking. They are often mandated to the task by their boss or some sort of authority figure. In fact, if they had it their way, they would never speak in front of other people. They have a people phobia, so to speak Read more…

Stress, Mood and Food

Globally, three out of five doctors visits are down to stress-related issues. That’s a scary statistic if you consider not only the financial drain on society, but also the psychological impact on families and relationships.

Although a lot of the stress we encounter is out of our control, there is much we can do to enable us to deal with it more effectively, from breathing techniques to regular exercise and importantly good nutrition. But to do this, we must understand what stress is and how it impacts the body.

Stress

Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions.

Acute stress is the most common form of stress. It comes from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future. Acute stress is thrilling and exciting in small doses, but too much is exhausting.

Prolonged exposure to stress becomes a problem and can leave you feeling unable to cope with daily challenges. Heavy workloads, insomnia, physical illness, excessive alcohol and stimulants (tea, coffee, smoking and social drugs) are common physical factors that contribute to chronic stress whilst psychological issues like depression and anxiety are contributing factors.

The stress response is controlled through hormones secreted by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). The HPA axis regulates many body processes including digestion, the immune system, mood and emotions, sexuality, energy storage and expenditure. Chronic stress will eventually lead to an imbalance in the hormones adrenalin, cortisol and DHEA. Imbalances in these hormones may lead to decreased energy production, blood sugar problems, memory impairment, cardiovascular disease, increased weight gain and reduced immunity. Identifying adverse effects of stress in the early stages can help to prevent more serious problems down the line. Read more…

The Importance of Eyesight and the Effects It Can Cause Once It Is Loss

Have you ever taken a moment just to consider the importance of eyesight and the effects it can cause once it is loss? I know that the majority of us take life for granted and never consider the possibilities of what it would be like if our eyesight was compromised.

I recently did some research and learned some very interesting facts about our eyes. Read more…

Panic Attacks Causes – What Could Possibly Be the Cause of Your Panic Attacks?

Panic disorder is becoming quite common an is a growing concern for many people. The sudden onset of an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety can be very scary and if it isn’t treated can result in complete isolation of a person. Often sufferers will be too scared to leave their home for the fear of having an attack while in public.

The good news is that there are treatments available and with a little help you can overcome panic disorder completely. The first step to overcome this problem is to find the source. You will need to think back or take note of things going on in your life and see if you can pinpoint the cause of your attacks.

Some of the possible causes for panic disorder include:

• Stress
• Depression
• Death of a family member
• Big change in your life Read more…

Trends of the Health Care Industry

The healthcare industry may be showing an upward growth in countries across the world but several areas are still not being taken care of that will enhance the provision of health care to the common people. Almost 1/5th of the worldwide sale of healthcare is comprised by countries like Russia, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China and Turkey.

It was in the 1990s that the heath care cost started increasing. The 42 million mark was attained by Americans who did not have any health insurance or health care coverage. In the years to come, it is being predicted that considerable stress will be imposed on the US health care sector due to the rise in number of old sick people. In the near future, number of healthcare programs and insurance coverage will also witness some increase. The escalation in the medical plans in 2006 was 42.5 million and this might increase to 70.2 million by the year 2025. Read more…

Smoking and Panic: Is smoking a practical activity to relieve panic?

There is without doubt a correlation between smoking and panic. For years, there have also been studies that links smoking to depression. Ask anyone who has panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder what happens when they puff on a cigarette. They will claim that the first reaction is a feeling of being at ease, but this is only the psychological reaction of submitting to a drug when one is addicted to it.

The second reaction is the raising of stress levels caused most likely by the increased levels of carbon monoxide in the nicotine. Oftentimes, the raised stress levels can mentally fatigue the smoking, making his slightly tired, yet anxious afterward.

The biggest misconception where smokers logic starts to go wrong, is thinking that smoking cigarettes is a “be all end all” stress reliever. As stated above, there is a moment of instant gratification as the smoker takes the first few puffs of their cigarette. This is simply because they have a psychological and physical addiction. They get a psychological sense of relief when they get their “fix”. Read more…