STRESS

Current research shows that stress can suppress your immune system, perhaps opening the door to a number of infectious diseases. "Stress doesn't make you sick," says virologist Ronald Glaser. "But it does increase your risk of being sick because of what it does to your immune system." There is particularly compelling evidence linking stress to colds, the flu, and herpes. Although we are continually exposed to such viruses, our immune system normally fights them off. But some experts say that when a person is under emotional distress, these defenses can fail. The biological mechanisms involved are not yet fully understood, but some theorize that the hormones that gear you up for action when you are under stress can hamper your immune functioning as they surge through the bloodstream. Usually, this is not a cause for concern, since these hormones are only on a temporary mission. Nevertheless, some say that if a person faces stress that is ongoing and intense, his immune system may be compromised to the extent that he becomes susceptible to illness.

This might help to explain why Canadian doctors estimate that some 50 to 70 percent of the office visits they handle are stress-related, typically involving headaches, insomnia, fatigue, and gastrointestinal problems. In the United States, the figure is estimated at between 75 and 90 percent. Dr. Jean King feels that she is not exaggerating when she says: "Chronic stress is like slow poison." Some Ailments That Have Been Linked to Stress allergies arthritis asthma back, neck, and shoulder pain colds depression diarrhea flu gastrointestinal problems headaches heart problems insomnia migraine peptic ulcers sexual dysfunction skin problems Neither Sole Cause nor Sole Cure Despite the foregoing, scientists are not sure that stress alone can affect the immune system enough to make a medical difference. Thus, it cannot be stated dogmatically that everyone who faces stress, even in its chronic form, will succumb to a disease. Conversely, it cannot be said that the absence of stress will guarantee good health, nor is it wise to refuse medical attention on the misinformed notion that illness can be willed away through optimism and positive thinking. Dr. Daniel Goleman cautions: "The result of this attitude-will-cure-all rhetoric has been to create widespread confusion and misunderstanding about the extent to which illness can be affected by the mind, and, perhaps worse, sometimes to make people feel guilty for having a disease, as though it were a sign of some moral lapse or spiritual unworthiness." It must be realized, therefore, that the cause of an illness can rarely be narrowed down to a single factor. Still, the connection between stress and illness emphasizes the wisdom of learning how to alleviate this "slow poison" whenever possible. good stress and bad stress what are they,our next article will consider that.