Q: I am recovering from breast cancer surgery. Unfortunately, my healing process is coinciding with several unexpected stressful events in my life. Can stress actually slow my healing?
A: Stress does have far-reaching physical effects. There is plenty of research showing that stress especially long-term stress, and the feeling you cannot get control of your life can harm your body.
It all starts with the body's stress response. Our bodies are "wired" to respond to acute stressors. For example, our distant ancestors often had to deal with approaching predators. Their bodies had to be prepared to fight or to flee.
Life in the 21st century doesn't expose most of us to the threat of being eaten by lions. But we do have our own version of such threats, like nearly getting run over by a speeding car.
What we probably have more of today than our ancestors on the Serengeti had is CHRONIC stress the drip, drip, drip of one challenge after another: The traffic jam. The kid who needs to get to a soccer game when you had planned to go shopping. The boss who asks for something by tomorrow. And how are you going to find the time for that if you have to get your kid to soccer and also shop?
read more: http://www.stardem.com/article_3abec675-9529-5157-8cb7-e772fcf50123.html
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Monday, 12 March 2012
Emergency stress relief strategies: Seven supplements and tips
Emergency stress relief strategies: Seven supplements and tips.
Taking active steps to beat stress and calm your nervous system is essential for fat loss, not to mention optimal health. However, even if you are doing everything right to modulate cortisol, there may still be moments of crisis, exams, deadlines, meetings or presentations that send your heart racing out of your chest and your stress levels through the roof. Luckily, there are a number of things you can do to take the edge off in any situation.
Breathe: Sounds simple right? We do it all the time. However during time of stress most of us take rapid, shallow breaths from our upper torso. Abdominal breathing is a much healthier, more relaxing way to breathe. Just four deep belly breaths will also trick your body into a relaxation response and get you out of that flight-or-fight mode so common with stress. Best of all, you can be right at your desk. Simply inhale for four seconds (while expanding your stomach like you are filling up a balloon) and then exhale for four seconds. Pause for two seconds before the next inhale and repeat then repeat the process as many times as you need (for a minimum of four).
RELATED: Smart food for your memory
Go for a massage: We know that the cortisol and adrenalin we produce when we're under stress are destructive to our body tissues, immune system and adrenal glands when they are present in high amounts for long periods of time. A study from the International Journal of Neuroscience (October 2005) found that massage increases endorphin release, which is excellent for treating pain, depression and anxiety. It helps ease activity in the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and increases our parasympathetic response (rest and relax). So beyond simply feeling good while you are on the table, massage has definite physiological benefits. If you work in a busy downtown core you may just be able to find someplace that offers short, seated 15 - 20 minute massages that you can get on your lunch hour.
Read More - http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/emergency-stress-relief-strategies-seven-supplements-tips-170000203.html
Taking active steps to beat stress and calm your nervous system is essential for fat loss, not to mention optimal health. However, even if you are doing everything right to modulate cortisol, there may still be moments of crisis, exams, deadlines, meetings or presentations that send your heart racing out of your chest and your stress levels through the roof. Luckily, there are a number of things you can do to take the edge off in any situation.
Breathe: Sounds simple right? We do it all the time. However during time of stress most of us take rapid, shallow breaths from our upper torso. Abdominal breathing is a much healthier, more relaxing way to breathe. Just four deep belly breaths will also trick your body into a relaxation response and get you out of that flight-or-fight mode so common with stress. Best of all, you can be right at your desk. Simply inhale for four seconds (while expanding your stomach like you are filling up a balloon) and then exhale for four seconds. Pause for two seconds before the next inhale and repeat then repeat the process as many times as you need (for a minimum of four).
RELATED: Smart food for your memory
Go for a massage: We know that the cortisol and adrenalin we produce when we're under stress are destructive to our body tissues, immune system and adrenal glands when they are present in high amounts for long periods of time. A study from the International Journal of Neuroscience (October 2005) found that massage increases endorphin release, which is excellent for treating pain, depression and anxiety. It helps ease activity in the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and increases our parasympathetic response (rest and relax). So beyond simply feeling good while you are on the table, massage has definite physiological benefits. If you work in a busy downtown core you may just be able to find someplace that offers short, seated 15 - 20 minute massages that you can get on your lunch hour.
Read More - http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/emergency-stress-relief-strategies-seven-supplements-tips-170000203.html
Monday, 5 March 2012
Sleeping pills for insomnia increase risk of death fourfold, and could raise risk of cancer
Sleeping pills for insomnia increase risk of death fourfold, and could raise risk of cancer
A new study by American scientists has shown that sleeping pills used by thousands of people in the UK are linked with an increased risk of death.
The study, published in BMJ Open, compared more than 10,000 patients taking sleeping tablets with 23,000 patients not taking these drugs.
Researchers from the Jackson Hole Centre for Preventative Medicine in Wyoming and the Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Centre in California looked at a wide range of sleeping pills, including those regularly used in the UK.
They found that people prescribed sleeping pills were 4.6 times more likely to die during a 2.5 year period compared to those not on the drugs.
People taking higher doses of temazepam pills, which were dispensed 2.8m times in England in 2010, were six times more likely to die in the next two-and-a-half years.
Read more - http://www.activequote.com/health-insurance/news/Sleeping-pills-for-insomnia-increase-risk-of-death-fourfold-and-could-raise-risk-of-cancer.aspx
A new study by American scientists has shown that sleeping pills used by thousands of people in the UK are linked with an increased risk of death.
The study, published in BMJ Open, compared more than 10,000 patients taking sleeping tablets with 23,000 patients not taking these drugs.
Researchers from the Jackson Hole Centre for Preventative Medicine in Wyoming and the Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Centre in California looked at a wide range of sleeping pills, including those regularly used in the UK.
They found that people prescribed sleeping pills were 4.6 times more likely to die during a 2.5 year period compared to those not on the drugs.
People taking higher doses of temazepam pills, which were dispensed 2.8m times in England in 2010, were six times more likely to die in the next two-and-a-half years.
Read more - http://www.activequote.com/health-insurance/news/Sleeping-pills-for-insomnia-increase-risk-of-death-fourfold-and-could-raise-risk-of-cancer.aspx
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