Chronic stress, which has been called
Most people associate stress with worry, but stress can take on many forms. Stress, whether it be emotional, chemical or physical can be unhealthy and dangerous if you don’t know how to manage it.
It was recently discovered that people under chronic stress had above-normal levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), an immune-system protein that promotes inflammation and has been linked with heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, severe infections and certain cancers.
It appears that stress increases levels of IL-6, which in turn accelerates a variety of age-related diseases. Further, stress can weaken a person’s immune response, leaving them more susceptible to infection, and can lead to unhealthy lifestyle habits. For instance, stress often leads people to overeat, lose sleep, and neglect exercise - all of which can create health problems on their own.
"There is a whole new field called "neuroimmunology" that studies the effects of stress on the immune system. Scientists in this area have demonstrated alterations in the normal function of immune cells in animals during times of stress. Excessive physical stress (poor posture / unhealthy spine) significantly changes our immune cell profile. Yes folks, the quality of your posture will always influence the quality of your immune system!
It’s not practical to advise people to avoid stress because - let’s face it - we all have it. What is practical, however, is to emphasize the importance of dealing with stress before it takes a toll on your health.
Unfortunately, for most people, no one has ever taught us how to properly identify the many forms of stress in our lives. In addition, most people have absolutely no idea how to minimize or eliminate their stressors.
How many stressors do I have? Where is the stress in my life coming from? Can my stressors be eliminated or minimized, and HOW? More importantly, how do I keep the stress from coming back? These are questions that most people should be asking themselves. These are issues that most doctors should be addressing.
At our most recent seminar we clearly defined “chemical stressors” to look for, understand, and begin working on. For those of you who were in attendance, you are now in a better position to manage this type of stress in your life. If you could not attend or thought you did not need this information… I am worried about you! This seminar was extremely powerful as it gave attendees a level of awareness and motivation that all of us need to live a Maximized Life.
At Maximized Health Chiropractic our goal is to help people better identify and manage the many forms of stress in their life. Remember this… stress is the ultimate cause of pain, sickness and disease. Postural stress, work stress, emotional stress, nutritional stress, nerve irritation stress... the list goes on and on.
Have you got control of it, or has stress got control of you?
Speak up and educate others,
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