3491: Stress - Bad For Body and Brain by Doctor Jenny Brockis on Stress Management

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[00:00:58] This is Optimal Health Daily. Stress, bad for body and brain, by Dr. Jenny Brockes of drjennybrockes.com. And I'm Dr. Neal Malik, your very own personal narrator. Welcome to a Thursday edition of Optimal Health Daily. This is one of a few shows where we read to you from blogs for free, so that you don't have to read them yourself, except on Fridays. That's where I usually answer your questions.

[00:01:26] And remember, you can send in your questions via email to health at oldpodcast.com. Alright, and with that, let's get right to today's article as we optimize your life. Stress, bad for body and brain, by Dr. Jenny Brockis of drjennybrockes.com. What is stress?

[00:01:52] Stress has been defined in a number of different ways, but for the purpose of this article, it's taken to be a sense of irritation, tension, nervousness, anxiety, fear, or difficulty sleeping, lasting over a month as a result of problems at home, at work, or health worries. Stress is a term often used in society, but do we really understand what stress actually is, and why it matters to brain health?

[00:02:19] Should we worry about stress as a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's? Severe chronic stress is bad for our health. This is the sort of stress that keeps you awake at night with worry. This is the sort of stress that is associated with excessive release of catecholamines, the substances associated with the fight-or-flight syndrome. Here, the hormone cortisol, which in normal amounts causes no problem, exerts a toxic effect on our neurons.

[00:02:49] Studies looking at dementia risk and stress. A high level of this hormone cortisol in the brain, by accelerating the process of biochemical and behavioral pathology, has been linked to an increased risk of dementia. The results of a study on a group of over 1,400 women in Sweden, followed over 35 years, was published in 2010. These women were between the ages of 38 and 60 when they were first recruited to participate.

[00:03:16] And they answered questions, including one about their psychological stress, at three time periods, 1968, 1974, and 1980. Of the group, 161 women developed dementia, mostly in the form of Alzheimer's disease. Those who had reported having repeated periods of stress in middle age were shown to have a 65% increase in their risk of dementia.

[00:03:42] And those who reported stress in all three surveys had doubled the risk. In this study, the timing of the stress was relevant. In other words, exposure to repeated stress in middle age appears to elevate the risk. Should this be a surprise? Maybe not. It's already known that stress has a negative impact on our health, increasing our susceptibility to an impaired immune response

[00:04:07] and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in the form of stroke, high blood pressure, and heart attack. Previously published animal studies had also shown an association of stress and dementia risk. But it also needs to be put into perspective. The vast majority of women participating in the study did not develop dementia. So while stress is significant and needs to be dealt with appropriately,

[00:04:32] it is important not to stress that being stressed will lead you to developing dementia. In another study, the physiological changes in neurons susceptible to the effect of stress were examined. Here, researchers using rats showed how stress led to an increase in the formation of abnormal clumps of tau protein in neurons. This led to increased cell death, particularly in the area of the brain associated with learning and memory,

[00:05:01] the hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. This builds on previous findings that stress is associated with the buildup of beta amyloid, another protein associated with the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The next step will now be to see whether these results implicating stress as a possible trigger of neurodegenerative disease can be replicated in humans. One of the researchers, Osborne Almeida,

[00:05:27] has also questioned the relationship between stress and depression. Stress has been recognized as a major risk to a person's propensity to develop major depression. Could beta amyloid and tau proteins, by being accelerated to form under the influence of stress, be implicated in the development of this disease as well? Stress management, the need to manage stress levels.

[00:05:53] The bottom line is that the effects of stress on our health and well-being should not be underestimated. Be aware that stress is potentially harmful to your health. And, make sure you know what you can do and how you can mitigate the effects of stress. This could be in the form of physical exercise, talking to a trusted friend or family member, seeking medical advice, learning meditation, practicing yoga or tai chi, deep breathing, or mindfulness training.

[00:06:22] So, don't ignore symptoms of stress either personally or in others. Take the necessary steps to bring your stress under control and minimize any potential risk to the health of your body and brain. You just listened to the post titled, Stress, Bad for Body and Brain, by Dr. Jenny Brockes of drjennybrockes.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:09:12] I know, I get it. But sometimes, we need to hear this information to motivate us to take action. So the trick isn't to hyper-focus on the negative. Instead, if this news scared you a bit, the trick is to acknowledge it and see what we can do now to focus our energies on the positive. We need to harness those stressful feelings into something productive. What's one thing we can do right now to help reduce our feelings of stress?

[00:09:42] It could be as simple as stopping what you're doing and taking five deep breaths. Or it could be going outside for a five-minute walk. It could be standing up right now and doing 10 squats using just your body weight. It could be calling or texting someone you've been meaning to connect with but haven't yet. It could be sending an email or a text thanking someone for their friendship or their love. It doesn't have to be fancy. It just needs to happen.

[00:10:11] All right, that wraps up today's episode. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being a subscriber. Thank you for sharing this show with someone. I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you back here tomorrow for another Friday Q&A and where your optimal life awaits.