Most specialists define stress as a feeling or emotion that causes tension in the mental and physical aspects. It can be motivated by traffic, problems at work, finances, couple fights, child care, making the person feel nervous, tense, or with symptoms of anger.
Conditions caused by stress
Stress can affect different parts of the body, causing minor damages, but prolonged it can be severe. The body parts that are usually affected the most are:
- Hair
- Heart
- Stomach
- Liver
- Kidneys
- Muscles
- Brain
- Pancreas
- Immune System
Hair
The most common thing that people with stress present is hair loss. It can fall by locks while the person combs or shampoos their hair or runs their hands through their hair. It is known as telogen effluvium.
Heart
Some alterations caused by stress that directly affect the heart are: Increased blood pressure can cause tachycardia, increases inflammation in your body, and can increase triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood.
Stomach
Stress affects the digestive part significantly, generating specific pathologies, for example, ulcerative colitis that affects the intestine or gastritis located in the stomach. Emotional stress usually causes abdominal distension and diffuse pains.
Liver
When it becomes chronic, stress causes, among other things in the long term, heartburn, reflux, bloating, or constipation.
In response to these conditions caused by stress, they will cause the liver to produce more sugar directly into the bloodstream.
Kidneys
Studies conducted in recent years and the factors that we could call “classic” in diagnosing kidney disease (anaemia, hypertension, and diabetes) have considered that oxidative stress would be another factor to believe in the pathogenesis of progressive chronic renal failure.
Muscles
These body parts are the first receptors of ailments caused by stress muscle tension; when caused by stress can directly cause headaches, back and shoulder pain, and body aches.
Muscle tension is the main reason people go for a massage. Four-handed massage is especially effective, as it offers a greater capacity to travel over the body.
Brain
All the changes in the brain are generally responsible for the onset of some neuropsychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and, above all, depression. Stress can produce changes in the brain responsible for several mental and behavioral issues that can evolve into severe neuropathic conditions.
Therefore, relaxation at the body level can be a perfect escape. A massage with a happy ending can help us to activate our brain by adding that final point of relaxation that brings value to our body.
Pancreas
Studies conducted at Columbia University (United States) indicate that stress can act as an accelerant in the development of pancreatic cancer; this is a consequence of hormonal release, which doctors could slow down by using beta-blocking drugs.
The immune system
The changes produced by chronic stress may translate into mild immunosuppression. Therefore, we will find the following implications: depressed immune activity, blood clotting problems and slowed healing, reactivation of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, increased retention of viruses in tissues.
As we observe, stress affects the principal organs of our body. There are different activities to help reduce stress levels. The simplest ones are walking or jogging, practicing sports activities, listening to the music of your preference, meditation. Please pay attention to your body and how it is responding to stimuli. You may notice you are under stress and change your lifestyle to heal yourself.
