Effects of Stress: Chronic Health Conditions
When warning signals are ignored, many health issues can result. Learn about the research findings which show the connection between these health conditions and stress.
Premature Aging
A recent study reports that mothers who take care of their disabled children have a biological age that is ten years older than mothers not exposed to this caregiving stress. Biological age was assessed through the length of telemeres.
Epel ES, Blackburn EH, Lin J, Dhabhar FS, Adler NE, Morrow JD, Cawthon RM. PNAS, 101, 17312-17315. 2004.
Colds and Infections
Studies demonstrate that prolonged exposure to stress can blunt the immune system response, increasing the risk for colds and more serious infections.
Cohen S, Doyle WJ, Turner RB, Alper CM, Skoner DP. Emotional style and susceptibility to the common cold. Psychosomatic Medicine. July-August;65(4):652-657. 2003.
Segerstrom SC, Miller GE. Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin. July;130(4):601-630. 2004.
Weight Changes
Chronic stress can results in a loss of appetite and weight loss or an increase in cravings for fat, sugar and salt, which leads to weight gain. A recent study suggested that chronic stress can cause abdominal fat accumulation in otherwise thin women due to increased secretion of cortisol. Central distribution of fat increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
Heart Disease
Sudden changes in heart rate precipitated by external stressors can place increased demand on cardiovascular system, precipitate angina, and increase the risk for a first coronary heart disease and recurrent event.
Aboa-Eboule C, Brisson C, Maunsell E, Nasse B, Bourbannais R, Vezina M, Milot A, Theroux O, Dagneais G. Job strain and risk of acute recurrent coronary heart disease events. JAMA, 298(14); 1652-1660. 2007.
Krantz DS, MCCeny MK. Effects of psychological and social factors on organic disease: A critical assessment of research on coronary heart disease. Annual Review of Psychology, 53:341-369. 2002.
Stroke
Prolonged or frequent episodes of stress can gradually worsen high blood pressure, and affect arterial flow to the brain, increasing the risk of stroke.
Migraines
Studies have suggested that migraine attacks occur more frequently when one is under increased levels of stress.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
A strong correlation has been associated between stress and IBS.
Depression
During the three to six months preceding the onset of depression, 50-80% of experience a major stressful event, compared with 20 to 30% of non-depressed persons evaluated during the same period. Increased stress also predicts the length, symptom intensity and proclivity to relapse of major depression.
Cohen S, Jamicki-Deverts D, Miller GE. Psychological stress and disease. JAMA, 298(14), 1685-1687. 2007.
HIV
Among HIV positive men, each additional moderately severe life event increased the risk of progressing to AIDs by 50% and of developing an AIDs related clinical condition by 2.5-fold. In addition, the intensity of every virally initiated illness to which HIV persons are susceptible are known to be influenced by stress.
Leserman J, Petitto JM, Gu H, et al. Progression to AIDS, a clinical AIDS condition and mortality: Psychosocial and physiological parameters. Psychol Med, 32(6):1059-1073. 2002.