Posted on 23rd Jan 2012 @ 12:53 PM

Did you know that 90% of doctor visits are stress related? Stress can have short term and long term affects on your body, and the long term affects can leave your body at risk for serious health problems. Read below to hear how stress can negatively affect your body, what long term risks to be aware of, and how to manage your stress levels to keep your body healthy...

One of the first things that many people can relate to is tense muscles. Your body responds to stress by tensing muscles, and this can be noticed in sore muscles such as your neck, shoulders, and your back. These continuously tensed muscles can eventually lead to tension headaches or migraines.

Stress can also stimulate the intestines triggering diarrhea or constipation. And, it can cause heartburn, queasiness, or gas. Consistent problems like these could lead to irritable bowel syndrome, severe heartburn, or ulcers.

For females, persistent stress can cause you to have irregular menstruation or even impede your menstruation cycle until your body’s stress level returns to normal.

For males, chronic stress can reduce the production of testosterone and this can lead to a decrease in sexual desire.

Furthermore, stress can increase your blood pressure, and this could higher your risk for a stroke and put you at future threat for heart failure, kidney failure, or even a heart attack.

Our bodies are all different, and they are each built to withhold stress to a particular level. These long term risks are very important to be knowledgeable of but keep in mind there are ways to prevent, manage, and reverse many of these health problems. Some suggestions to prevent, manage, or cope with these potential health issues that stress can cause are the following:

Meditate. As noted in our last article, with meditation “your sense of time changes, the quality of your awareness changes and typically you can approach the world and your life with less stress.”

Try Yoga. Yoga reduces your blood pressure and heart rate, helps you sleep, and reduces your anxiety and muscle tension. These are just a few of the many ways that yoga can increase your well-being.

Talk it out. Share your problems with a friend. Sometimes just sharing your thoughts and feelings with a friend helps you put your life into perspective, and it certainly helps clear your mind and ease your tensions for a certain amount of time.

Eat healthy. We all know that eating sugary or salty comfort foods appears instantly satisfying when we’re under stress. BUT, it turns out that sticking to a healthy diet will help your stress levels and keep your body most healthy during a stressful time.

Exercise. Breaking a good sweat will help you in a variety of ways. Exercise releases endorphins, increases your blood flow, and almost instantaneously perks up your mood.

Related AHS Products: Stress Relief