Stress and the Human Body By Steven A Johnson At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Everyone has stress in their daily life, and everyone's body responds differently to stress. When you experience stress, the brain responds by a variety of different responses, these include releasing different chemicals to our blood stream. What this does is give us a momentary boost to do whatever needs to be done to survive. However, if left unchecked, you could have a heart attack or stroke.

Stress is one of the reasons that many people turn to drinking alcohol. The cycle begins with them getting depressed, then they may find it difficult to fall asleep, soon they may even experience chest pain. In extreme cases the body loses the ability to fight diseases. So, possibly these people could die of a disease, such as cancer, pneumonia, etc. Unfortunately stress can never be identified as the cause of the death. The way it happens is that some other disease will always takes the blame for it. Our body's ability to cope with stress is called General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).

Doctors have stated that there are three stages to GAS. The First stage of GAS is called alarm reaction. During this stage the body produces and releases adrenaline and various other psychological mechanisms. These are chemicals intended to combat the stress and to keep you in control. This term is called fight or flight response. The reactions that occur are the muscles begin tensing up, the heart starts to beat faster, and breathing and perspiration increase, the eyes dilate, the stomach may clench. Believe it or not, this response is to protect you in case the event of an emergency. When the cause of the stress is removed, the body will return to normal. In the case of the cause for the stress is not removed, the GAS go proceed to a second stage which is called resistance or adaptation.

In stage two of GAS the body reacts to long term protection. It will start to secrete an increased amount of hormones that serve to increase blood sugar levels. Higher elevated blood sugar levels are used to sustain energy and raise blood pressure. The adrenal cortex produces hormones called corticosteroids for stage two of GAS. Constant overuse by the body's defense mechanism will eventually lead to disease because of this phase. In the case of phase two continuing for a prolonged period of time without frequent periods of relaxation and rest to counterbalance the stress response, sufferers can become prone to fatigue. Other effects include lapses in concentration; irritability and lethargy develop as the effort to sustain ones self slides into negative stress.

The third stage of GPS is called exhaustion, during this stage, the body runs out of its reserve of body energy and immunity becomes depleted. Resources such as mental, physical and emotional suffer heavily. The body begins to experience adrenal exhaustion. The blood sugar levels start to decrease as the adrenal glands become depleted. This leads to decreased stress tolerance, mental and physical exhaustion, or in the worst case scenario, illness and collapse.

The importance of maintaining low stress levels and keeping your mind active and healthy cannot be emphasized enough! By learning how to successfully combat stress you can lead a fuller richer life. One such product designed to help the battle against stress and promote focus and concentration is Focus Excel by Micronutra. Focus Excel is specially formulated to contain the safest of ingredients that have been used by millions for thousands of years!

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