Stress Health Effects: 10 Scary Things It's Doing To Your Body

The Huffington Post | By Amanda L. Chan Posted: 02/04/2013

1.       Fuels Cancer in Animal Cells – A recent animal study showed that stress could help cancer cells survive against anti-cancer drugs.

2.       Shrinks the Brain – Researchers reported that stressful occasions – like going through a divorce or being laid off  can actually shrink the brain by reducing gray matter in regions tied to emotion and physiological functions. They warned that these changes could signal future psychiatric problems.

3.       Prematurely Ages Kids – The extreme duress that a child experiences when exposed to violence early on could lead to premature aging of his or her cells.

4.       Could Affect You Offspring’s Genes – The effects of stress on a person’s genes may be passed on from generation to generation, so the stress may not only take its toll on the person but on the person’s progeny as well.

5.       Spurs Depressive Symptoms – A study in mice suggests stress could play a role in the development of depression.

6.       Increases Risk Of Chronic Diseases – It’s not just the stress, but how you react to it, that could have an impact on your health down the road. Those who were more stressed out and anxious about the stresses of everyday life were more likely to have chronic health conditions a decade later.

7.       Raises Stroke Risk – Stressed-out people have a higher risk of stroke.

8.       Does A Number On Your Heart – Anxiety and stress is linked with a 27% higher risk of heart attack. (The same effect as smoking 5 cigarettes a day.)  Anything you can do to reduce stress may improve your heart health in the future and how well you may survive after a heart attack.

9.       Makes Colds Worse – Stress has an impact on your immune system with one study showing it can make colds worse. When stressed you produce more cortisol which can wreak havoc on your body’s inflammatory processes.

10.   Could Affect Cancer Outcomes – Research shows that managing stress could improve outcomes of the disease and that stress management intervention mitigates the influence of the stress of cancer treatment and promotes recovery over the first year.

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