Stress Archive

Changing your mindset doesn't mean taking a Pollyanna view of the world. The key isn't to deny stress, but to recognize and acknowledge it—and then to find the upside, because a full-throttle fight-or-flight response is not the only possible reaction to stress (at least when the stress does not involve a potentially life-threatening situation).

In people with a more stress-hardy mindset, the stress response is often tempered by the challenge response, which accounts for the so-called excite-and-delight experience that some people have in stressful situations, such as skydiving. Like the typical stress response, the challenge response also affects the cardiovascular system, but instead of constricting blood vessels and ramping up inflammation in anticipation of wounds, it allows for maximum blood flow, much like exercise.

Chronic stress is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. These strategies can help you manage it.

People often complain about stress, but it's actually a natural reaction with an essential purpose.

When the body senses danger, it starts its fight-or-flight response. Your nervous system releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which jolt the body into a protective mode. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breathing quickens, and your senses sharpen.

Ask the doctors

Q. I have a very stressful job, and recently my blood pressure readings started going up. Could my job stress be the reason why?

A. Yes, chronic stress can affect blood pressure. Several hormones affect your heart's rhythm, including epinephrine and norepinephrine. When these hormone levels rise, your heart starts to work harder. Stress hormones can also constrict your blood vessels, causing temporary blood pressure spikes.

In the journals

Over-the-counter pain medicines that contain caffeine can be effective at stopping some headaches. But drinking a large amount of caffeinated beverages might actually trigger a headache for some people with migraines, according to a study published in the August 2019 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

Researchers recruited almost 100 people with migraines who suffered from fewer than 15 headaches per month. For six weeks, they recorded the timing and characteristics of each migraine and their intake of caffeinated beverages.

Your money might be better spent on something else.

During the winter months, you've likely seen ads for products that claim to give your immune system a boost to help you ward off colds and the flu. But can something in a bottle, whether a vitamin formulation or probiotic, really rev up your immune system to help you stay healthy?

"Unfortunately, the reality is that those kinds of products aren't really offering you any benefit," says Michael Starnbach, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School. "There's no evidence that they help in fighting disease."

Research we're watching

Having a dog often means taking daily walks, a habit that helps stave off heart disease. But that might not be the only reason dog owners have healthier hearts, according to a new study.

The nearly 1,800 participants had no history of heart disease in 2013 when the study began. Researchers scored them based on the American Heart Association's "Life's Simple 7" factors: body mass index, diet, physical activity, smoking status, blood pressure, blood sugar, and total cholesterol. Then they compared the scores of people who owned any pet to those who did not own pets, as well as the scores of dog owners with owners of any pet or no pet.

Simple breathing techniques may help you to better manage heart-related issues.

Maybe you're already in the habit of taking a deep breath to calm down when you're feeling fed up or frustrated. But a regular practice of focused breathing might offer even bigger rewards.

"Stress directly affects blood flow to the heart muscle, and any technique people can use to lower stress will benefit the heart," says Dr. Kimberly Parks, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Some people turn to yoga, tai chi, or meditation for stress relief. But others aren't interested in trying those techniques. For them, a simple breathing practice may be more appealing, in part because it's easy, it's free, it takes just a few minutes, and it can be done anywhere at any time.

Memory problems and confusion are just the newest in a list of health problems that appear to disproportionately affect LGBT individuals.

Past research has shown that sexual and gender minority groups may be at higher risk for certain health conditions, including cardiovascular disease and mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. A new study suggests that another condition — dementia — may also be on that list. Findings presented at the 2019 Alzheimer's Association International Conference showed that people who identified as a sexual or gender minority were more likely than other people to report worsening memory or increased confusion over the past year.

It's possible that some of the same underlying factors that affect risk of other diseases are playing a role in these reported cognitive changes as well, says Dr. Ole-Petter R. Hamnvik, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Almost any health outcome that you look at, you can find disparities in these groups. It's not just dementia," he says.

Research we're watching

Could a traumatic experience raise the risk of ovarian cancer? Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Moffitt Cancer Center found that women who remembered experiencing six or more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had double the risk of later developing ovarian cancer, compared with women who had not reported PTSD symptoms. They were also more likely to develop a more aggressive form of the cancer. The researchers looked at data from more than 50,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II. Early in the study, women were asked to identify their most stressful life experience and any PTSD symptoms they had experienced following that event. Researchers then looked to see which of the women went on to develop ovarian cancer. The study, published Sept. 5 in Cancer Research, found higher cancer risk persisted even if a woman's PTSD symptoms had occurred decades in the past. Past animal research suggests that stress hormones may spur tumor growth.

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