Stress Archive

Men need to be challenged to be healthy in mind and body.

It might seem like retirement is a time to take it easy and devote yourself to gardening, golfing, and napping. But don't take it too easy, say Harvard experts. An absence of challenges can have the same effect as too much stress, compromising your physical and mental health. For optimal well-being, you need to stay engaged—with your own interests as well as with other people.

Job strain—defined as having a demanding job in which you have little control—may slightly increase the risk of a stroke. The findings, in the February 2015 Stroke, echo earlier results that show a similar link between heart disease and job strain.

Researchers gleaned the results from 14 different studies that included more than 190,000 men and women from six European countries. Their average age was 42, and the follow-up lasted just over nine years, on average. Job strain was associated with a roughly 20% higher risk of ischemic stroke (the type that occurs when a clot blocks a blood vessel supplying the brain).

Known as non-obstructive coronary artery disease, this condition can trigger heart attacks down the road.

You just had a cardiac stress test and you passed with flying colors. Does that mean you are free of heart attack risk? Not necessarily, says Dr. Ron Blankstein, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and preventive cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

A device called RESPeRATE may help, but questions remain.

The term "fight or flight" is also known as the stress response. It's what the body does as it prepares to confront or avoid danger. When appropriately invoked, the stress response helps us rise to many challenges. But trouble starts when this response is constantly provoked by less momentous, day-to-day events, such as money woes, traffic jams, job worries, or relationship problems.

Health problems are one result. A prime example is high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease. The stress response also suppresses the immune system, increasing susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. Moreover, the buildup of stress can contribute to anxiety and depression. We can't avoid all sources of stress in our lives, nor would we want to. But we can develop healthier ways of responding to them. One way is to invoke the relaxation response, through a technique first developed in the 1970s at Harvard Medical School by cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson. The relaxation response is a state of profound rest that can be elicited in many ways, including meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation.

Goal setting and relaxation techniques reduce stress and ease the physical and emotional burden
it can take.

Often used to reveal hidden heart problems, this test can also tell you what kind and level of exercise is right for you.

Irritability, sadness, or apathy may signal another condition.

Everyone has a bad day now and then. But if you or someone you care about seems sadder, more worried, or more easily agitated these days, it could be a sign of a more serious condition. "Mood-related symptoms can come and go in response to everyday stresses. If they occur for long periods, cause significant distress, or interfere with your daily functioning, it's an indication to seek help," says Dr. Nancy Donovan, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Taking a few minutes to focus your mind each day can reduce stress, pain, depression, and more.

You can't see or touch stress, but you can feel its effects on your mind and body. In the short term, stress quickens your heart rate and breathing and increases your blood pressure. When you're constantly under stress, your adrenal glands overproduce the hormone cortisol. Overexposure to this hormone can affect the function of your brain, immune system, and other organs. Chronic stress can contribute to headaches, anxiety, depression, heart disease, and even premature death.

Though you may not be able to eradicate the roots of stress, you can minimize its effects on your body. One of the easiest and most achievable stress-relieving techniques is meditation, a program in which you focus your attention inward to induce a state of deep relaxation.

By Dr. Anne Fabiny, editor in chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch