Stress: its influence on lifestyle diseases

It is known that certain disorders such as depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disorders or reduced immune competence can be closely related to stress.

This constitutes a risk factor for both our physical health and our mental health. It can alter or affect health through various ways and mechanisms (precipitating the occurrence of a disorder, affecting the course of a disease, generating new sources of stress, producing physical and mental discomfort, reducing our well-being and quality of life, etc.)

From this it follows that stress constitutes a dangerous vicious circle, as it generates a whole series of consequences that are also sources of stress. We'll see now the connection between stress and so-called lifestyle diseases.

• Related article: "Types of stress and their triggers"

Lifestyle diseases

In Western civilization, the main causes of death are due to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, hypertension, etc.) and cancer. Other health conditions, such as mental disorders

(depression, hypochondria, somatization problems, etc.), are associated with marked health disturbances, loss of quality of life and work problems.

For many of these types of disorders, the concept of lifestyle diseases has been suggested. There are numerous risk factors characteristic of the lifestyle of our society that constitute important sources stress, such as unemployment and job insecurity, unhealthy eating habits, toxic habits such as smoking, etc.

These factors are sometimes cause or consequence, sometimes both. The result is a continuous level of over-activation that ends up directly affecting our health. (continued increase in heart rate) or indirect (promoting unhealthy behaviors, such as binge eating) food).

Before the invention of penicillin, in the first half of the 20th century, our greatest invisible enemy was bacteria. Today, with the advances in medicine and the mass use of vaccines, the main threat is stressBecause in advanced societies it causes more death and suffering than viruses and bacteria. So much so that the WHO, in October 1990, estimated that these lifestyle diseases were the cause of 70-80% of premature deaths in industrialized countries.

Depression, anxiety, essential hypertension, strokes, tumors, traffic accidents, allergies, heart attacks, psychosomatic complaints and many other health problems could, to some extent, be considered as diseases or lifestyle disorders due to their association with psychosocial stress. So let's take seriously the words of the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti:

It is not a sign of good health to be perfectly adapted to a deeply ill society.

• You may be interested: "The 6 differences between stress and anxiety"

How does stress affect us

A stressful event always involves a change or the expectation of a changeIn this sense, it constitutes a threat to homeostasis (natural balance of the organism), so it puts us on alert. The stressful potential of a life event is a function of the amount of change it entails: the greater the change, the greater the probability of getting sick.

The overload that stress puts on the body does not act in a specific way, predisposing us to a particular disease, rather leaves us in a defenseless state, impairing our body's overall ability to regenerate, defend ourselves and recover, making us more vulnerable.

Minor events, "little mishaps" such as the typical rush hour traffic jam on the road, make up the bulk of small stressful day-to-day events. By relying on the force of habit, these day-to-day discomforts become part of our routine, the we incorporate them as usual, normalizing them, and we respond less to these small complications than to large changes vital.

It is thought that this type of daily stress, due to its cumulative impact, could constitute a greater source of stress than major vital changes and would be a better predictor of altered health, particularly disorders chronic

• You may be interested: "13 questions and answers about anxiety (FAQ)"

Psychological and somatic symptoms

The accumulated experience of setbacks seems to predict the level of psychic (basically emotional) and somatic symptoms (somatic complaints in general).

Many authors have found relationships between daily stress and levels of anxiety and depression, general somatic and psychological complaints, symptomatic level in different systems somatophysiological (cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological-sensory, musculoskeletal, etc.), psychological well-being and psychological symptoms of different domains.

There is also a relationship, although less clear, between daily stress and the appearance of psychopathological disorders (anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, etc.), something that, however, does seem to be linked to the previous occurrence of life events (major events).

Perhaps the most important relationship between daily stress and these disorders would occur through a affect on the course of the disorder, aggravating its symptoms, rather than acting as a factor precipitant.

Daily stress and alterations in physical health

The nervous and hormonal alterations that stress generates have repercussions of various kinds on our state of health. Below you can see which are the main ones.

1. Gastrointensitial disorders

There are various works that relate daily stress to the course of some chronic medical diseases. Gastrointestinal disorders have received some attention, such as Chron's disease or irritable bowel syndrome.

With regard to irritable bowel syndrome, several authors have indicated the convenience of implementing cognitive-behavioral programs of coping with stress aimed at treating these patients and even more so if one takes into account that medical treatments are only of the palliative.

• Related article: "This is the chemical dialogue between your brain and your stomach"

2. Rheumatoid arthritis

Some investigations have linked the stress of life events with the development of rheumatoid arthritisAlthough it appears that stress, especially daily stress, plays a role in aggravating symptoms. There is some controversy as to whether it acts by mediating immunological changes associated with stress or whether it does so by increasing sensitivity to the pain response.

3. Cancer

Already in 1916 the statesman Frederick. L. Hoffman pointed to the low prevalence of cancer among primitive peoples, suggesting a close relationship between the development of this disease and the lifestyle of modern societies.

In 1931 the missionary physician Albert Schweizer observed this same phenomenon, as did the anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson in 1960. The latter explains in his book Cancer: Disease of Civilization, how upon reaching the Arctic he observed the non-existence of cancer among the Eskimos and how this disease increased in prevalence as the primitive peoples of the Arctic came into contact with man White.

More recently, it has been seen that the weakening of the immune system that causes stress is related to an increased presence of cancer.

4. Migraine

Several authors have reported a close relationship between headaches and symptoms of migraine. An increase in daily stressors would produce greater headaches, associated with both the frequency and intensity of the pain.

• Related article: "The 7 types of migraine (characteristics and causes)"

5. Coronary artery disease

Daily stress can aggravate angina symptoms in patients with coronary artery disease. On the other hand, increased stress could predict angina the following week,

6. Cardiovascular responses

There is a relationship between stress and hypertension and / or coronary artery disease and they play an important role in increasing blood pressure.

7. Infectious diseases

Several authors point out daily stress as a factor that increases vulnerability to disease infectious such as upper respiratory infections, flu, or virus infections herpes.

8. Immune system

The literature that links the implication of stress in relation to the functioning of the immune system is very abundant. This effect could be seen in diseases mediated by the immune system, such as infectious diseases, cancer or autoimmune diseases.

This influence of stress on the immune system It has been observed in both acute stressors (one exam), as well as chronic stressors (unemployment, conflict with a partner) or life events (loss of a husband).

There is not as much literature regarding the influence of daily stress, although it has been observed that positive events in our lives are are related to an increase in an antibody, immunoglobulin A, while negative events tend to reduce the presence of this antibody.

Conclution

The consequences of stress are multiple, affecting several levels (physical and psychological) manifesting in a very diverse way both in its form and in its severity. Much of this stress overload is linked to our particular lifestyle and it is in our power to make changes to reduce this harmful influence on health.

Finally, it should be noted that beyond the influence of external factors that generate stress there are variables in the person that modulate the greater or lesser adequacy of the response to the demands of the half. There are variables in the personality such as neuroticism (tendency to worry) that make us especially vulnerable to stress or personal factors such as resilience that harden us against same.

Remember that if you feel overwhelmed by the circumstances you can always go to a professional psychology that teaches you appropriate strategies to better cope with the difficulties of the day to day.

Bibliographic references:

• Sandín, B. (1999). Psychosocial stress. Madrid: DOPPEL.