Stress Mechanics - The Business of Health

STRESS MECHANICS – TIME FOR A TUNE UP

The 21st Century has brought with it remarkable research into health and the healing process. Contrarily, stress-related illnesses are escalating across the globe. Multiple episodes of negative-stress reactions have a direct link to such illnesses as: low energy: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; mood change: depression; insomnia; stomach disorders: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; food sensitivities, and can cause well-documented dramatic changes to our blood pressure and heart rate.

Stress has become the “Band-Aid Banner” for many of our problems, particularly in the work place. How often do we refer to our ‘stressful lives’, or being ‘really stressed’ at work, without actually identifying the cause? While we may lay blame on the boss, our colleagues and deadlines, how often do we actually look further to establish why we are responding in this way? It is imperative to remember that stress is predominantly our emotional reaction to a difficult situation that may then manifest in the physical body as a sign or symptom of poor health.

The stress phenomenon is not specific; it is an all-encompassing umbrella complex that reaches out to every demographic. Stress can be triggered by an emotional, environmental or physical response to vast array of stressors in modern life.

How stress depletes the body of its vital resources is a complex and intricate mechanism. Typically, the “Neurea-transit” and hormonal highways are tested to their limits, as they react with their daily “fight of flight” responses. The bulk of this energy is derived from the Adrenal glands, which nestle snugly upon each kidney and produce the hormone Adrenaline. A constant stress reaction will ultimately see a decline in the amount of readily available adrenaline, thus resulting in the debilitating energy burn-out known as CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

To put things into perspective: When it comes to stress and corporate life, contemplate this…as soon as your state-of-the-art computer, car, mobile phone or home entertainment system crashes and burns, do you continue to run it into the ground beyond repair? Alternatively, do you panic and seek the immediate help of a professional technician who can fix the problems you know are beyond your capacity? If this is the case, then why would you let your own highly evolved bio-computer, your brain and body, spin-down into burnout, doing potentially permanent damage to your personal hard drive?

The Business of Health
In the era of the quick fix and the out-sourcing our problems and dilemma to experts, perhaps its time to embrace a little on-site repair and rebuilding at head office. Truly, it is a labour of love that takes time and can not be hurried, for it has taken a lifetime for the body to degenerate into that stressed and short-fused state that most of us know and neglect. Remember that there is a self-healing expert in all of us just waiting to get out and live!

Clarity of brain function and unlimited energy stores are tools that we all yearn for in the high-octane business world and personal lives. We expect a good performance from our employees, and desire to be healthy and energetic in our own bodies, yet we continue to camouflage our true E (energy) potential with the usual synthetic boosters: coffee, alcohol, processed foods, which result in disrupted sleep patterns and big energy swings. Nothing sets you up better for a highly effective day than a sound night’s sleep, a healthy intake of quality, unprocessed, foods and the utilisation of our own energy resources rather than those provided by the faux-caffeine society that we are accustomed to turning to when we feel tired.

The Cortisol Connection

The hormone cortisol is produced in the adrenal cortex in response to adrenal cortical stimulating hormone (ACTH) produced in the pituitary gland. Cortisol plays an important role in regulating blood sugar, energy production, inflammation, the immune system and healing.

If you have too little cortisol, you may suffer from fatigue, chronic fatigue, exhaustion and a disease of the endocrine system called Addison's disease. If your adrenal glands are producing too much cortisol, you may develop conditions such as weight gain, especially around the abdomen, depressed immune function with all of the consequences, accelerated aging and stomach ulcers.

Cortisol and Stress

Cortisol is elevated in response to stress. The adrenal glands are not particular, any kind of stress will do. The stress can be physical, environmental, chemical or imaginary. The human brain is hard wired with automatic responses to protect the body from harm.
(1) In the "Fight or Flight" response, the adrenal glands enlarge and secrete large quantities of adrenal cortical hormones. These hormones suppress inflammatory responses and mobilize the body's energy reserves. This puts the body on RED ALERT and diverts all of the body's biochemical resources to immediate survival.

The body's self healing mechanisms are arrested (healing diverts energy and raw materials away from immediate survival), the immune system is suppressed, glycogen stores in the liver and muscle tissue are mobilized to raise the blood sugar level and digestion and assimilation are inhibited. The stomach lining becomes thin and ulcerated and the thymus gland and lymphatic tissue shrinks.

This "Fight or Flight" response works well when dealing with man eating food, but it is not suited for our modern lifestyle. Battling traffic, competing for parking spaces and watching the evening news produces the same physiological responses as running for your life. And the stimuli don't stop and go away, leaving the body with chronic high cortisol levels.

(2) All forms of stress produce the same physiological consequences. This includes environmental stress (heat, cold and noise, etc.), chemical stress (pollution, drugs, etc.), physical stress (overexertion, trauma, infection, etc.), psychological stress (worry, fear, etc.) and biochemical stress (nutritional deficiencies, refined sugar consumption, etc.). All of these different sources of stress are additive and cumulative in their effects.

As the body responds to this cumulative stress, it goes through three stages of response.

(1) The first stage is REACTION. The body experiences the symptoms from the trauma, infection, heat, cold, chemical irritation, etc. The endocrine system responds with the release of cortisol and other hormones to compensate for the trauma. The heart beats faster, the blood pressure rises, the pupils dilate,

(2) The second stage is ADAPTATION. After the adrenal glands have enlarged and released large quantities of adrenal cortical hormones, the symptoms disappear and the individual feels good, has energy, and is able to function in the presence of the stresses he/she is under.

(3) The third stage is EXHAUSTION. After an extended period in stage two, the body's reserves of nutritional elements (raw materials) and resilience becomes depleted. The symptoms return and there is now no relief. The individual may collapse physically, suffer a nervous breakdown, become dysfunctional and/or experience an organ or body system failure (heart attack, stroke, etc.)

(4) An optional fourth stage is DEATH. If the stresses continue after stage three is reached and the body is no longer able to adapt, and rest, regeneration, and healing do not occur, the consequence is death.

It is important to recognize that an individual in this cycle short of stage four can reverse the consequences of stress by removing themselves from the stressful situation and giving themselves the rest, peace of mind, and nutritional support that is necessary to restore the body's reserves.

It is also important to recognize that an individual in stage two has physiologically adapted and they feel asymptomatic, and are usually, therefore, not too concerned about or even conscious of what is happening. One of the consequences of this adaptation is suppression of the immune system. These individuals are more susceptible to infections, colds, allergies, etc. In the presence of new and dangerous infectious diseases, this can be a very important matter.