Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Dealing With Stress

The hurried pace of modern life along with the seemingly endless stream of work and family responsibilities can leave a person frazzled, to say the least.The body has built in fight or flight mechanisms designed to respond to stressful situations.While these responses can be extremely useful during acute emergency situations, the constant activation of these mechanisms as a result of chronic daily stress can have detrimental effects on nearly every system in the body.

Chronic stress affects the musculoskeletal system, causing headaches and muscle and joint pain.It also increases tension in the neck,back,and shoulders.Stress leaves a person more vulnerable to cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and hypertension and suppresses the immune system, which leads to more viral diseases and bacterial infections.Chronic stress can impair a person's memory and even lead to gastrointestinal problems ranging from nausea to constipation and diarrhea.

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