The rigors of the festive season can wreak havoc on your body.
Be aware of the warning signs and the 6 places where your body is likely to suffer! The Brain - Stress affects your memory.
During a perceived threat, the adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol and these stress hormones divert blood sugar to exercising muscles which decreases the amount of glucose to the part of the brain, the hippcampus, responsible for memory.
Continue this and the hippocampus will shrink.
This has been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
Weight - Constant stress can make you gain weight around your waist.
Our body's repsonse to stress is to prepare us for action.
Adrenalin mobilises fat into the bloodstream providing the energy to run or fight.
However if you're not active that energy remains unused so the body stores it around your middle, close to the liver where it can be accessed again quickly.
Skin - When under stress, your adrenal glands produce higher levels of the hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine which in turn increases sebum levels, blocking pores and causing spots and irritation.
Hair - Hair grows in two cycles - a growth phase of around three years followed by a rest phase of three months.
Stress however triggers larges numbers of hairs to go into a rest phase at the same time.
After three months these hairs fall out at once when the new growth pushes through which causes temporary thin hair or even baldness.
Heart And Blood Pressure - Under stress your blood pressure rises allowing blood to flow quickly to the brain and extremities - the areas that need it most for effective performance.
If you suffer long-term stress, your high heart rate and blood pressure can cause continual turbulence within your bloodstream.
This raises tension in your arterial walls, causing them to thicken and increases the risk of a heart attack.
Immune System - Stress will affect your immune system in one of two ways.
Toxic stress hormones either breaks down your white blood cells or your immune system goes into overdrive doing everything possible to fight the threat.
Eventually your immune system will exhaust itself and can even turn on itself failing to distinguish between harmful bacteria and it's own healthy cells.
Be aware of the warning signs and the 6 places where your body is likely to suffer! The Brain - Stress affects your memory.
During a perceived threat, the adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol and these stress hormones divert blood sugar to exercising muscles which decreases the amount of glucose to the part of the brain, the hippcampus, responsible for memory.
Continue this and the hippocampus will shrink.
This has been linked to Alzheimer's disease.
Weight - Constant stress can make you gain weight around your waist.
Our body's repsonse to stress is to prepare us for action.
Adrenalin mobilises fat into the bloodstream providing the energy to run or fight.
However if you're not active that energy remains unused so the body stores it around your middle, close to the liver where it can be accessed again quickly.
Skin - When under stress, your adrenal glands produce higher levels of the hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine which in turn increases sebum levels, blocking pores and causing spots and irritation.
Hair - Hair grows in two cycles - a growth phase of around three years followed by a rest phase of three months.
Stress however triggers larges numbers of hairs to go into a rest phase at the same time.
After three months these hairs fall out at once when the new growth pushes through which causes temporary thin hair or even baldness.
Heart And Blood Pressure - Under stress your blood pressure rises allowing blood to flow quickly to the brain and extremities - the areas that need it most for effective performance.
If you suffer long-term stress, your high heart rate and blood pressure can cause continual turbulence within your bloodstream.
This raises tension in your arterial walls, causing them to thicken and increases the risk of a heart attack.
Immune System - Stress will affect your immune system in one of two ways.
Toxic stress hormones either breaks down your white blood cells or your immune system goes into overdrive doing everything possible to fight the threat.
Eventually your immune system will exhaust itself and can even turn on itself failing to distinguish between harmful bacteria and it's own healthy cells.
Source...