Cancer Articles (Dr. S.N White)

How do I get started with stress management? 4 Easy Stress Management Strategies STEP 1 : IDENTIFY THE STRESSORS IN YOUR LIFE AND THE EMOTIONS THEY BRING OUT These stresses maybe deadlines, overwork, financial pressures, family or marital difficulties, lack of support in daily activities, relationships with coworkers, child rearing, housework, etc. Once you identify the major issues in your daily life, you’ll be on the path to reducing the toll they take on you and your health. Then determine what emotions they trigger. Does the daily traffic jam make you tense or angry? Does being late make you feel inadequate? Does a disagreement with other people in your family make you feel hostile or unloved? Here is the story of Maggie and how she successfully managed to decrease stresses in her complex life. Maggie is in her latefifties and has high blood pressure and a high blood cholesterollevel; she has grown children in college and a retired husband at home. She is the marketing ...

What about depression is it the same as stress?  Many of the symptoms of stress are also symptoms of depression, but it is not clear whether depression and stress cause the same physiological responses in the body. It is estimated that between 25 and 30 million Americans suffer from clinical depression (not just moodiness), although many go undiagnosed. The hallmark signs of depression are a loss of interest in life in general and a hopeless, withdrawn, or pessimistic attitude. Depressed people often experience a loss of energy, feel restless, and have trouble concentrating and making decisions. Some do not experience the agitation and rise in blood pressure and heart rate that are part of the stress response; others do. High levels of cortisol are present in many severely depressed patients, contributing to high levels of LDL (the harmful fat in cholesterol) in the blood. If for no other reason than that depression is linked to an elevation in LDL, people with heart disease m...

Are you saying that anger, sadness, and other emotions are harmful because they cause stress?   Anger , fear, sadness, and other emotions are a fact of life. Everyone experiences them to some degree or other. Just as physical pain alerts us that something is going on in the body that needs our attention, these painful emotions let us know that something in our psyche needs attention. Sometimes these emotions arise, are acknowledged,and dissipate. At other times, particularly if these emotions are not acknowledged, they arise over and over again until they become a chronic, underlying sttfte. It is when they go unrecognized or are suppressed that emotions become stressful; emotions in themselves are healthy, not harmful.

Can exercise reduce stress?  Physical activity is a good way to reduce stress and depression. From walking to swimming, no matter how gentle or how challenging, physical activity is a great healer. Most of us know from experience that exercise makes us feel better psychologically, but scientific support for this belief appeared in Cardiac Rehabilitation : Clinical Practice Guideline, published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1995. A panel of experts reviewed various studies and concluded that “exercise training enhances measures of psychological and social functioning . . . including measures of emotional stress.” It is known that exercise stimulates production of endorphins, which promote a sense of well-being in the body. Find some time for some physical activity, even if only for a few minutes or for a short walk, each and every day.

How can I reduce stress?  Once you have identified the stresses in your life, there are two options available to you to reduce or eliminate them. The first option is to remove the stressful elements from your life. If working with a certain colleague is on your list of stress inducers, you could talk to your supervisor about the problem, ask to be transferred, or find a new job. If traffic continually has you on edge, you could look into participating in a car pool or taking public transportation. The other option is to change the belief that working with this particular colleague is stressful, or that traffic congestion causes stress. There are various ways to work on such attitudinal changes. Affirmation, in which you mentally rehearse the actions and attitudes you wish to adopt, can be helpful. Affirmations are believed by some to “reprogram” negative beliefs already established in your mind. Visualization, in which you imagine the scenario you’d like to become your reali...

Remember that stress is just a label. The senses perceive an event or situation, but it is the brain that evaluates the information, interprets it, and labels it as a stress. If the brain labels it stressful, then the body mobilizes its fight or flight physiological response. A stress is merely an event or situation that occurs in our environment; we have no control over it. Stress happens. The system of beliefs about what is stressful, however, is something over which you do have some control, and it is this belief system you must address in order to alleviate chronic stress.

Is it true that stressful events can cause heart attacks?  Any cardiologist will tell you that both angina (chest pain) and heart attacks can be triggered by acute stress. Sudden heart attacks happen either because not enough blood and oxygen flow to the heart or because of arrhythmias, erratic or missed heartbeats. If you look at the list of effects of stress on the heart at the beginning of the chapter( Link ), you’ll see that the heart works harder and arteries constrict, reducing the amount of blood reaching the heart. Ventricular arrhythmias can also be triggered by stress. It has been suggested that stress may be a trigger for earlymorning heart attacks and death from sudden heart attacks and from stroke.

Can even minor stresses raise blood pressure?  Yes. Just think of all the minor stresses that can be found in a day, from being stuck in traffic to conflicts at work. One example we have all experienced, and one that reminds us how even minor stresses can raise blood pressure, is a visit to a physician’s office. In the medical world this is called white coat hypertension. Blood pressure measurements taken in that situation are usually higher than the true average blood pressure, unless the patient has had a chance to rest and relax. This is why at least three measurements are taken in research projects on blood pressure. The patient rests in a quiet environment for a minimum of two minutes after each measurement. Not surprisingly, the last measurement is usually much lower than the first.

How does chronic stress affect the body?  That stress, chronic or acute, can lead to a heart attack or another medical crisis has been known for a long time. In chronic stress, stress hormones are present in the body over much greater periods, causing the body’s fight- or-flight mechanisms to be activated much of the time. Chronic stress has these effects on the body: • The heart works harder, beating faster over long periods of time. • Blood pressure remains higher and, over a long period, can cause damage to the lining of arterial walls, resulting in lesions to which plaque can adhere. • Since the blood clots more easily, it is easier for clots to form inside the arteries. •Muscles contract, and potassium and magnesium nutrients needed for proper artery function are used up, while sodium and calcium accumulate. This imbalance can result in abnormal artery constriction, including constriction of the coronary arteries, which can cause spasm and perhaps a heart attack. ...

How is stress defined? The word stress itself is a bit confusing in that it is used to describe two aspects of a threatening situation. First, it refers to an outside danger, an incident or situation that alerts you to protect or defend yourself, or to escape. In this sense it is synonymous with “danger,” even if the danger is only imagined. The word stress also refers to your physical and emotional response to these situations. In a dangerous situation, you might say that you experience stress. Stress, in its definition as “outside danger,” is only partly avoidable, and the truth is you can’t always control it. Your body reacts to stimuli that appear to threaten its survival or well being. The brain perceives danger and reacts by activating physiological mechanisms to defend the body. This is our built in fight or Jlight response, a response that has become one of the foundations of classic teachings in physiology and psychology. The key here is the brain’s perception of which o...

Can stress really damage the heart?  It certainly can, and by many different mechanisms. Stress that isn’t handled well, especially if accompanied by bouts of anger, can increase the outpouring of the stress hormones, such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, all from the adrenal gland the small powerhouse gland that sits on top of our kidneys. Stress hormones can do the following: • increase pulse rate and blood pressure • push up triglyceride levels • increase the clotting tendency of our blood • increase the chances of rupturing one of the plaques, which can be a cause of an acute heart attack •cause an arrhythmia (an abnormal rapid heartbeat), which can also trigger a heart attack.