Stress doesn't feel very good, but that's not the only reason it's bad for you. In this video, internal medicine specialist Dr. Keri Peterson describes the profound impact chronic stress can have on your health.
So, stress serves a purpose in our lives, when we're faced with trauma or something upsetting, our body reacts by creating stress hormones called adrenaline and cortisol, and that allows us to have our fight or flight response which is a survival mechanism. However, when chronic stress goes on for days, or months, or years, and you'll have these consistently elevated levels of adrenaline and cortisol,
that's when it becomes unhealthy for your body, and that's when it can cause health problems. There's many conditions that can erupt from chronic stress, heart disease, obesity, headaches, digestive problems, insomnia, memory impairment, and depression just to name a few. In fact, chronic stress can even reduce your immune system so that it's harder to fight off colds and flu.
That's why it's so important to try to manage your daily stress so that it doesn't do harm over time.
Everyone experiences stress from time to time. Unchecked, stress can cause weight gain, increase your risk of certain diseases, harm your emotional health and even add years to your looks. Fortunately, simple steps can help you cope.
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