Stress:A Contributing Factor for Chronic Disease

Stress is a reaction which occurs in the body when it comes up against either an unpleasant feeling or a situation that it is not comfortable with. Stress plays a role in depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Along with this it is a main cause for chronic diseases like hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome, ischemic heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, acid peptic disease. Stress plays a role in triggering or worsening depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Stress is associated with the onset of depression as well as relapse in people who have recovered from it. The biggest type of culprits in depression, namely "social stressors" such as divorce and the death of a loved one. Depression also is common among people who have been diagnosed with a serious illness, suggesting that physical disease itself is a stressful event that can lead to depression. On the other hand, chronic stress such as work stress contributes to cardiovascular illnesses such as coronary heart disease. Stress causes and contributes to disease in two ways. One is behavioral stress where people under stress sleep poorly and are less likely to exercise; they adopt poor eating habits, smoke more and don't comply with medical treatment. Stress also triggers a response by the body's endocrine systems, which release hormones that influence multiple other biological systems, including the immune system. There are many types of cancers, and it is possible that stress only influences those facilitated by sustained hormonal response and impairments in immunity. Obesity today is so common that young people are also suffering from this kind of disease. Overeating is the main cause of obesity. Many people today, especially young people, are now living a hectic and stressful lifestyle.