Many studies confirm that the psychological pressures cause many diseases,weakeningthe immune cells and shorteninglife, but what is the best cure?
Let us read…
Chronic Stress Can Interfere with Immune System
Chronic stress not only makes people more vulnerable to catching illnesses but can also impair their immune system’s ability to respond to its own anti-inflammatory signals that are triggered by certain hormones, say researchers;according to the November/December ’02 issue of Health Psychology.
Chronic stress seems to destroy the immune system’s capacity to respond to glucocorticoid hormones that normally are responsible for terminating an inflammatory response following infection and/or injury, according to researchers Gregory E Miller, PhD, of Washington University, and colleagues.
To examine what happens to people’s immune systems during on-going stressful situations, the researchers compared 25 healthy parents with children undergoing treatment for pediatric cancer with 25 healthy parents with healthy children on measures of mental health, effects of social support and certain immune system responses. All the parents had blood drawn at the initial session and salivary cortisol samples taken at intermittent times over two days.
Parents of cancer patients reported more psychological distress than parents with healthy children, according to the study. The parents of cancer patients also were found to have diminished glucocorticoid sensitivity compared to parents of medically healthy children. This hormone is responsible for turning off the in vitro production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1B, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor, said Dr Miller.
But even though the cancer patient parents reported more depressive symptoms, depression does not seem to operate as a mediator. It may be that anxiety, intrusive thoughts, feelings of helplessness or lack of sleep may be influencing the stress-related reductions in glucocorticoid sensitivity.
Depression May Raise Death Risk
Patients who suffer from depression and who also have heart disease are almost five times as likely to die as people who are mentally and physically healthy, a new study shows.
Researchers in England, Finland, France, and the U.S. examined data from about 6,000 middle-aged adults from the British Whitehall II study, which is investigating the effect of social and economic factors on long-term health.
The researchers found that patients with coronary heart disease alone were 67% more likely to die of any cause and People who were depressed but otherwise healthy were twice as likely to die as patients who were neither depressed nor had heart disease.
“Depression may alter cellular responses or the metabolism of blood fats” saysstudy researcher Hermann Nabi, PhD, of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research at Hospital Paul Brousse.He and the other authors write that their findings stress “the need for healthcare professionals to pay more attention to depression in their cardiac patients.”
Patients who were both depressed and had heart disease were almost five times as likely to die as people who were mentally and physically healthy.
“This study provides evidence that depressive symptoms are associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death and that this risk is particularly marked in depressive participants” said Hermann
Anger may be linked to heart problems
According to a scientific research when people get angry, the stress isn’t restricted to their head but the anger actually triggers electrical changes in the heart, which can predict future arrhythmias in some patients.
Arrhythmias, which are heart rhythm problems, happen because of a malfunction in the electrical impulses in heart that coordinate heart beats, the result is that heart beats too fast, too slow or irregularly.
The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, may demonstrate a link between mental stress and sudden cardiac arrest, which causes more than 400,000 deaths every year.Also the study stated that some arrhythmias may increase a person’s risk of stroke or congestive heart problems.
“Perhaps if we treat them with something like stress management or anger management, we may decrease the likelihood of arrhythmias,” said Dr. Rachel Lampert, associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine.
Researcher Rachel Lampert, M.D., F.A.C.C., associate professor, Yale University School of Medicine says that previous research has shown that the rate of sudden cardiac death increases when the population is collectively stressed, such as during an earthquake or war.
The previous study advices people that they must control their temper if they really care for their hearts.
Other studies have also shown that if we ask patients about what happened before a heart attack, they’ll most frequently say they were angry, said Dr. Charles Raison, psychiatrist and director of the Mind/Body Institute at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
“It is just indisputable that negative emotionality — especially anger and misery, depression — are terrible for your heart,” said Dr. Charles Raison, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta
“I am convinced that genuine happiness – because it makes people more peaceful, more giving, and more effective – has the power to change the world,” Raison says. “True happiness depends on our ability to turn down stress and immune pathway activity in the brain and body – doing so allows us to take full advantage of the tremendous evolutionary advantage offered to species with a capacity for cooperation, compassion and altruism.” he added
Impatience Omen of Hypertension Alert
Impatience and hostility – two hallmarks of the “type A” behavior pattern – increase young adults’ long-term risk of developing high blood pressure, according to a new study. Further the more intense the behaviorsthe greater the risk.
The research appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was conducted by scientists at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, the University of Pittsburgh in PA, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
“The notion that a ‘type A’ behavior pattern is ‘bad’ for your health has been around for many years,” said NHLBI Acting Director Dr. Barbara Alving. “This study helps us understand which aspects of that behavior pattern may be unhealthy.” She added
Barbara Alving the Director of the National Center for Research Resources
Believe that High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major risk factor for heart disease, kidney disease, and congestive heart failure, and the chief risk factor for stroke.
Stress and Skin
Studies link factors between emotional well-being — such as stress, depression and anxiety and an increase in skin, hair or nail problems. Dermatologist and clinical psychologist Richard G. Fried, MD, PhD, FAAD, of Yardley, Pa., explains the reciprocal relationship between feelings and appearance by saying that stress can manifest itself on one’s appearance in many ways, but primarily by making the skin more sensitive and more reactive. For example, stress can make psoriasis or rosacea worse result in acne lesions that are more inflamed and more persistent, cause brittle nails and ridging of the nails, cause hair loss, cause or worsen hives, and cause excessive perspiration.
Richard G. Fried is both a board certified dermatologist and licensed clinical psychologist says that stress can be a worsening factor for fever blisters, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis and has even been shown to impair skin barrier function and dehydrate the skin
Beyond the direct physiological effects of stress, patients under stress also tend to neglect or abuse their skin. For example, they often lack the energy and motivation to adhere to their skin care regimens, and there also might be signs of stress-related behaviors — such as scratching, pulling or rubbing — that can exacerbate problems.
Stress raises cholesterol levels in healthy adults
There is good evidence to show that stress can increase person’s cholesterolaccording to a new study that examines how reactions to stress over a period of time can raise a person’s lipid levels.
Cholesterol has always been considered as the number one culprit for various illnesses such as stroke, heart attack, obesity, hypertension and Alzheimer’s. Due to its adverse effects in the body, cholesterol has been considered as one of the major obstacle for a healthy life.
This finding is reported in an issue of Health Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA). In a sample of 199 healthy middle-aged men and women, researchers Andrew Steptoe, D.Sc., and Lena Brydon, Ph.D., of University College London examined how individuals react to stress and whether this reaction can increase cholesterol and heighten cardiovascular risk in the future. Changes in total cholesterol, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), were assessed in the participants before and three years after completing two stress tasks.
“The study found that individuals vary in their cholesterol responses to stress“said Dr. Steptoe.Some of the participants show large increases even in the short term, while others show very little response. The cholesterol responses that were measured in the lab probably reflect the way people react to challenges in everyday life as well. So the larger cholesterol responders to stress tasks will be large responders to emotional situations in their lives.
Stress causes skin cancer
Chronic stress, coupled with ultraviolet (UV) radiation, may increase susceptibility to a common form of skin cancer by suppressing an important category of immune cells, according to a study by Ohio State University cancer researchers.
The findings of the study were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
“We know chronic stress suppresses our body’s ability to fight off infection and heal properly. But no one has looked to see whether chronic stress affects skin cancer, which is the most common cancer in the United States,” said Tatiana M. Oberyszyn, a researcher at the Ohio State University.
Chronic stress is stress that persists for several hours each day for weeks, months or years. Both chronic stress and exposure to UV radiation suppress the immune system, but the mechanism by which suppression occurs is not fully understood.
Cancer can start from cells in any of these layers.
“We found that three weeks of chronic stress resulted in tumors developing six weeks earlier, and ultimately resulted in more than twice the number of tumors forming compared to non-stressed mice,” Oberyszyn said.
Researchers observed suppression of T-cell function and of molecules called type-1 cytokines, both of which work to enhance the type of immune response that would aid in skin tumor elimination, Oberyszyn said.
The results surprised researchers, she said.
Muslims and stress
Muslims are far away from stress because Allah Almighty supported them with a strong weapon to defeat stress which caused by problems and conflicts, that is the patience.
Disbelievers and atheists look to this life as the end and they think that there is no hereafter so they became regret for any lost chance even this chance is an economical chance, social chance or even a chance for acquiring pleasure. And they became impatient as they always wants to be in good events and don’t want bad events.
But believers don’t regret for any lost opportunity because they believe in destiny, also they believe that everything is in between Allah’s Hands and according to His will. This feeling makes them happy and satisfied with every bad or good thing because all things are from Allah Almighty.
Allah says in the Holly Qur’an:
(But if you persevere patiently, and become Al-Muttaqun (the pious – see V.2:2) then verily, that will be a determining factor in all affairs, and that is from the great matters, [which you must hold on with all your efforts].
){Sûrat Al-Imrân-The Family of Imran –verse186}.
In another verse Allah says on the tongue of Lukman: (And endure you patiently (O Muhammad), your patience is not but from Allah. And grieve not over them (polytheists and pagans, etc.), and be not distressed because of what they plot){Sûrat An-Nahl-The Bees – verse127}.
Benefits of being patient not only in this life but Allah Almighty promised the believers that they will be rewarded for their patience in the hereafter for any bad events they facedas He Almighty says: (This is of the news of the unseen which We reveal unto you (O Muhammad ), neither you nor your people knew them before this. So be patient. Surely, the (good) end is for the Muttaqun){Sûrat Hûd-[(Prophet) Hûd– verse49}and in another verse He Almighty says: (And be patient; verily, Allah loses not the reward of the good-doers.){SûratHûd-(Prophet) Hûd-verse115}.
We shouldn’t forget that Allah Almighty wants us to be patient while accompanying the believers by saying: (And keep yourself (O Muhammad ) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, etc., and other righteous deeds, etc.)){Sûrat Al-Kahf-The Cave -verse28} also He Almighty Doesn’t only want us to be only patient but to be with a good patience as He says: (So be patient (O Muhammad ), with a good patience.){Sûrat Al-Ma‘ârij-The Ways Of Ascent –verse5}.
Finally look at this great verse which gives the believer the power to be patient to face the many difficulties in our world as He Almighty says: (And those who remain patient, seeking their Lord’s Countenance, perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and spend out of that which We have bestowed on them, secretly and openly, and defend evil with good, for such there is a good end *’Adn (Eden) Paradise (everlasting Gardens), which they shall enter and (also) those who acted righteously from among their fathers, and their wives, and their offspring. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (saying):
“Salamun ‘Alaikum (peace be upon you) for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!”){Sûrat Ar-Ra‘d -The Thunder –verse22-24}.
Thanks Allah for the blessing of Islam
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By: Abduldaem Al-Kaheel
