Are you ready for summer? After the winter we've had, it seems only fitting that we're having almost summer-like temperatures in late March and early April, but most of us aren't arguing. Since it has been so nice, I've seen all kinds of summer activities starting to happen. Whether it's getting the yard and garden prepped, swinging the clubs, or just getting out for a walk, we're itching to enjoy the nice weather. Even though spring just started, as far as your skin is concerned, summer is here, so you'd better be acting accordingly.
In my mind, summer starts and ends on the days when we can get vitamin D produced by our skin from direct sunlight. While it won't last long yet, as of today, April 3, in St. Cloud, MN, we officially can start producing vitamin D, after a seven month hiatus. As I detailed in Lengthen Your Life #3 and Healthy Cavemen Didn't Live in Caves, vitamin D is one of the most essential components of a healthy lifestyle. Even though it's been a mild winter, until today, the sun wasn't high enough in the sky for our bodies to produce vitamin D naturally, so we've had to supplement for the last seven months.
The general consensus for years was that as long as you got some sun, you would get vitamin D produced. Current research tells us that is naive and short sighted. Sunlight has many different wavelengths, and only a small percentage of that will stimulate our skin to make vitamin D. We've known for quite some time that UVA and UVB have differing effects on the body. We now know that it is UVB that stimulates the body to make vitamin D. In medicine, UVA and UVB are lumped together as dangerous, but the reality is quite different.
UVB, while getting a bad rap from modern dermatologists, is very beneficial to our bodies. It does not significantly stimulate melanocytes, which are the cells that create the darker pigment we produce as we tan after sun exposure. What it does, is stimulate the conversion of vitamin D. This reaction seems to be a simple energy transfer, and not the result of certain cellular action. We used to think it happened inside of cells, but we know see it happening almost on top of the skin, or barely inside the first layer of skin.
Unfortunately, UVB rays are easily reflected by the atmosphere, and unless the sun is at least 50 degrees above the horizon, they don't get to us. That's why today, in my mind, is the start of summer. If you care to take a few minutes over the lunch hour (12:00-12:30), you can get your first contact with UVB again. The amount will increase as we progress through the year until about July 4, when we reach a peak of 5 hours and 20 minutes (9:40-3:00). That's just 20 minutes less than if you were in Honolulu, Hawaii on the same day. After that, it will decrease again until September 5, when we will say goodbye to UVB for the winter, and have to wait until April of next year before we meet again. Honolulu, on the other hand still gets 5 hours on that same day, and only loses UVB from mid-November until late January.
But wait, if UVB is only out at the peak of the day, isn't that dangerous to expose your skin at that time? Modern dermatologists want us to believe exactly that. They tell us to stay out of the sun when it is at its peak (10-2), which eliminates any possibility of natural vitamin D production. They still believe that all UV rays are dangerous, and haven't yet figured out that vitamin D is one of the best things we can get to prevent skin cancer. What we need to avoid is sunburn, not sun exposure.
Unfortunately, many of us, once we've been out in the healthy midday sun, want to go in and take a shower to wash all that sweat and oil from our skin. While that may seem like a good idea in today's hygienic world, in reality, we've just washed away all of the vitamin D. As I said, we know believe vitamin D is produced on the surface of the skin, and since it is fat soluble, it will be washed away if you shower and use soap over those areas exposed to the sun. It seems to take about 48 hours for the skin to absorb the vitamin D made and get it into the bloodstream. Does that mean you shouldn't shower all summer? No. In fact, showering is just fine, but you don't have to soap everywhere all the time. As I discussed in Healthy Skin Isn't Tough and Lengthen Your Life #1, we overuse soaps and end up with dry skin. In this case, we also continue a vitamin D deficient lifestyle. Generally, if you wash with soap those areas that aren't exposed to the sun, you'll minimize odor, have moister skin, and still get your vitamin D
UVA rays cause the majority of the negative effects to our skin. They cause wrinkling, aging, can contribute to both squamous and basal cell carcinomas, and also destroys vitamin D. UVA rays are around all year long, go through glass, and are nature's balance to UVB so we don't overproduce vitamin D. Unfortunately, we end up being exposed to way more UVA than UVB, and the balance is all on the negative side. These are the only rays you'll be getting if you follow the advice of current dermatologists.
Being out in the sun is healthy, but you should know all the facts, and not just the misconceptions promoted by modern medicine and mainstream media. Get your sun, but start slowly in the spring, and try to get it at the right times. Don't be afraid of UVB, but be cautious with UVA. Next week, I'll spend some time talking about sunscreens and sunblock so we can be safe all summer long.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Medications That Shorten Your Life
Anyone who has followed my blog or heard me talk can tell you that I'm not the biggest fan of conventional medical treatments. While there are times when they are necessary and life saving, when it comes to long term disease care, modern medicine fails miserably. In this week's blog, I'll detail a class of medications that brings billions of dollars a year into BigPharma's pockets, all the while killing Americans.
According to a recent study published in The British Medical Journal, sleep medications in general, but hypnotics specifically, can increase your risk of death by up to 532% over a 30 month period. Sleep medications entail several classes, including barbituates, tranquilizers, hypnotics, and even over the counter anti-histamines.
Since 1998, the hypnotic class has taken over the sleeping pill marketplace, rapidly supplanting both barbituates and tranquilizers as the drug of choice for insomniacs. These drugs include Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, and Restoril, along with their not so distant cousins Halcion and Dalmane. These medications have steadily crept up the charts of drug use, and it is estimated that as of 2010, 6-10% of Americans utilize these on an at least occasional basis.
Much research has gone into deciding how much sleep we need, when we need it, and which medications can help us get it. Unfortunately, this research has shown for a long time that all of these medications increase the risk of death, but it wasn't until this recent study that all obvious confounding factors were ruled out. While some believe that it was the insomnia that created the increased risk, we now know that just by taking sleeping pills, you are more likely to die.
The study looked at over 10,000 subjects who used sleeping pills, and matched each with two non-sleeping pill users of similar age, same sex, and smoking status. In addition, they accounted for ethnicity, alcohol use, marital status, and BMI (height/weight) to ensure accurate results. No study to date has eliminated as many factors while studying sleep medication effects in this large of a population.
The results of this study were remarkable, and bring into question the safety of this medication class altogether. In those patients who were prescribed 1-18 pills per year, they saw an increased death rate of 360%. If the prescription rose to between 18 and 132 pills per year, the death rate rose to 443% compared to the control group. At over 132 pills prescribed per year, there was a whopping 532% increased risk of death. This study simply looked at prescriptions, not whether or not they were actually used. However, the prescription of over 18 pills per year insinuates significant use.
What can explain this extraordinary death risk associated with sleeping pills? Why are they so dangerous? Unfortunately, we don't have all the answers, but we do have some theories based on actions and effects.
Sleeping Pills increase sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition where the person stops breathing for a time during sleep. Normally, the person wakes with a sudden snort which interrupts their sleep some, but they then resume sleeping. In those who take sleeping pills, we see the sleep centers of the brain suppressed, and an increase in sleep apnea. In some of these patients, they don't wake with a snort, but die in their sleep from a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Sleeping Pills increase daytime drowsiness. You would think that by taking a sleep aid, you would be more attentive and awake the following day. The research shows the opposite is true. Because these sleep aids stay in the body for at least 12-18 hours, the day after is normally a day where the person is less attentive and has a harder time staying awake. For those who take these pills habitually, they are in a constant fog. This can lead to a variety of problems, the least of which is falls and accidents. We see a significant increase in both in those who use medical sleep aids.
Sleeping Pills disinhibit aversive behaviors. Hypnotic sleep aids make the user less likely to recognize dangerous situations and change their behavior to avoid them. The example is of mice who, when they push a button, get an electric shock. Normal mice stop pushing the button pretty quickly. Mice on sleep aids, however, continue to push the button and receive the shock. It's like they can't learn that the button has bad consequences, and so forget that it's bad to push.
Sleeping Pills turn your brain off. After taking a sleep aid, parts of the brain stop working, while other parts continue. This creates the "Ambien Zombie" who is sound asleep, yet appears normal as they walk, drive, or raid the fridge. If you combine this "Ambien Zombie" effect with the disinhibition efffect, you can have someone who can act without knowing what they are doing, or that the action is dangerous or wrong. There are reports of these medications being suspected as complicit in some criminal cases.
Sleeping Pills don't increase sleep by much. Amazing as it may seem, sleep aids only increase sleep by a few minutes per night, if at all. While patients report significant improvement in sleep quality and quantity, the objective data of EEG's and observation shows a different story. It seems these medications make the users feel they have effects that aren't really there. In fact, after two weeks of use, there seems to be no research showing any benefit at all to these medications.
Sleeping Pills are addictive and create insomnia. Believe it or not, the cure actually causes the disease in this case. These medications change the chemistry of the brain enough that if not taken, the night following the dose will be significantly worse. While night one may seem better, night two is going to be worse, unless you take it again. But again, after two weeks of use, there is no benefit above a placebo, and now withdrawal becomes problematic, showing signs and symptoms similar to heroin addiction.
Sleeping Pills create an amnesia state. It seems one of the reasons the patients believe they are sleeping better is that these medications create an amnesia so you don't remember you didn't sleep. If you can't remember being awake, you must have been asleep, so they must be working. And then, if you try to go off and you really can't sleep, they must really work then, right?
Sleeping Pills increase the risk of infections. While these medications don't have a direct effect on the immune system, they do show a significant increase of infections in users. It may be due to the GERD (gastrointestinal reflux) that they cause, which can break down the lung's resistance or something else, but infection rates definitely are higher.
Sleeping Pills cause cancer. This is probably the most startling statistic the study confirmed that had been hinted at in earlier studies. In those who use sleeping pills, new cancer rates were 20% and 35% higher in the top two highest user groups compared to those who don't take sleep aids. Anything that increases cancer risk by that amount is extremely dangerous. If there was a supplement that even had one tenth of that risk, it would be pulled from the shelves immediately by the FDA and banned forever. A drug class that does it, however, is no big deal, and continues to be prescribed at an astounding rate. Cancer risk is something we should e always looking to diminish, and yet, here we have multiple studies which show it's there with sleep aids.
When you look at what sleeping pills do, and compare them to what they are supposed to do (and don't), it is obvious that this class should be quickly pulled from the market, and only prescribed to help patients withdraw from the addiction they create. If you are currently taking one of these medications, know that if you continue them for the next 30 months, you have somewhere between a 360% and 532% increased risk of dying than if you were able to stop them. Since I am not a medical doctor, I cannot recommend anyone change anything about their prescription medications. All I can do is warn you of what can happen if you continue to believe conventional medicine's lies. There are better, safer, natural options out there than can help with insomnia, as I detailed in my blog Is It Bedtime Yet?. One solution I didn't mention at the time includes the use of amino acids to balance brain chemistry, which has an extremely high effective rate in treating insomnia.
The decision to partake in the farce of sleeping pills is up to the individual, but so far, medicine hasn't been forthright in letting patients know the dangerous effects these medications have. If given all of the information, we can make good decisions. Unfortunately, you can't rely on conventional medicine to give you all the facts. That means you have to seek out information on your own, and often will end up more informed than the one prescribing the treatment. Know what you are putting in your body and how it can affect you. In this case, what you don't know can kill you.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
For full text of the study mentioned, visit here or to view the lead author's web book on the subject, see Dark Side of Sleeping Pills.
According to a recent study published in The British Medical Journal, sleep medications in general, but hypnotics specifically, can increase your risk of death by up to 532% over a 30 month period. Sleep medications entail several classes, including barbituates, tranquilizers, hypnotics, and even over the counter anti-histamines.
Since 1998, the hypnotic class has taken over the sleeping pill marketplace, rapidly supplanting both barbituates and tranquilizers as the drug of choice for insomniacs. These drugs include Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, and Restoril, along with their not so distant cousins Halcion and Dalmane. These medications have steadily crept up the charts of drug use, and it is estimated that as of 2010, 6-10% of Americans utilize these on an at least occasional basis.
Much research has gone into deciding how much sleep we need, when we need it, and which medications can help us get it. Unfortunately, this research has shown for a long time that all of these medications increase the risk of death, but it wasn't until this recent study that all obvious confounding factors were ruled out. While some believe that it was the insomnia that created the increased risk, we now know that just by taking sleeping pills, you are more likely to die.
The study looked at over 10,000 subjects who used sleeping pills, and matched each with two non-sleeping pill users of similar age, same sex, and smoking status. In addition, they accounted for ethnicity, alcohol use, marital status, and BMI (height/weight) to ensure accurate results. No study to date has eliminated as many factors while studying sleep medication effects in this large of a population.
The results of this study were remarkable, and bring into question the safety of this medication class altogether. In those patients who were prescribed 1-18 pills per year, they saw an increased death rate of 360%. If the prescription rose to between 18 and 132 pills per year, the death rate rose to 443% compared to the control group. At over 132 pills prescribed per year, there was a whopping 532% increased risk of death. This study simply looked at prescriptions, not whether or not they were actually used. However, the prescription of over 18 pills per year insinuates significant use.
What can explain this extraordinary death risk associated with sleeping pills? Why are they so dangerous? Unfortunately, we don't have all the answers, but we do have some theories based on actions and effects.
Sleeping Pills increase sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition where the person stops breathing for a time during sleep. Normally, the person wakes with a sudden snort which interrupts their sleep some, but they then resume sleeping. In those who take sleeping pills, we see the sleep centers of the brain suppressed, and an increase in sleep apnea. In some of these patients, they don't wake with a snort, but die in their sleep from a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Sleeping Pills increase daytime drowsiness. You would think that by taking a sleep aid, you would be more attentive and awake the following day. The research shows the opposite is true. Because these sleep aids stay in the body for at least 12-18 hours, the day after is normally a day where the person is less attentive and has a harder time staying awake. For those who take these pills habitually, they are in a constant fog. This can lead to a variety of problems, the least of which is falls and accidents. We see a significant increase in both in those who use medical sleep aids.
Sleeping Pills disinhibit aversive behaviors. Hypnotic sleep aids make the user less likely to recognize dangerous situations and change their behavior to avoid them. The example is of mice who, when they push a button, get an electric shock. Normal mice stop pushing the button pretty quickly. Mice on sleep aids, however, continue to push the button and receive the shock. It's like they can't learn that the button has bad consequences, and so forget that it's bad to push.
Sleeping Pills turn your brain off. After taking a sleep aid, parts of the brain stop working, while other parts continue. This creates the "Ambien Zombie" who is sound asleep, yet appears normal as they walk, drive, or raid the fridge. If you combine this "Ambien Zombie" effect with the disinhibition efffect, you can have someone who can act without knowing what they are doing, or that the action is dangerous or wrong. There are reports of these medications being suspected as complicit in some criminal cases.
Sleeping Pills don't increase sleep by much. Amazing as it may seem, sleep aids only increase sleep by a few minutes per night, if at all. While patients report significant improvement in sleep quality and quantity, the objective data of EEG's and observation shows a different story. It seems these medications make the users feel they have effects that aren't really there. In fact, after two weeks of use, there seems to be no research showing any benefit at all to these medications.
Sleeping Pills are addictive and create insomnia. Believe it or not, the cure actually causes the disease in this case. These medications change the chemistry of the brain enough that if not taken, the night following the dose will be significantly worse. While night one may seem better, night two is going to be worse, unless you take it again. But again, after two weeks of use, there is no benefit above a placebo, and now withdrawal becomes problematic, showing signs and symptoms similar to heroin addiction.
Sleeping Pills create an amnesia state. It seems one of the reasons the patients believe they are sleeping better is that these medications create an amnesia so you don't remember you didn't sleep. If you can't remember being awake, you must have been asleep, so they must be working. And then, if you try to go off and you really can't sleep, they must really work then, right?
Sleeping Pills increase the risk of infections. While these medications don't have a direct effect on the immune system, they do show a significant increase of infections in users. It may be due to the GERD (gastrointestinal reflux) that they cause, which can break down the lung's resistance or something else, but infection rates definitely are higher.
Sleeping Pills cause cancer. This is probably the most startling statistic the study confirmed that had been hinted at in earlier studies. In those who use sleeping pills, new cancer rates were 20% and 35% higher in the top two highest user groups compared to those who don't take sleep aids. Anything that increases cancer risk by that amount is extremely dangerous. If there was a supplement that even had one tenth of that risk, it would be pulled from the shelves immediately by the FDA and banned forever. A drug class that does it, however, is no big deal, and continues to be prescribed at an astounding rate. Cancer risk is something we should e always looking to diminish, and yet, here we have multiple studies which show it's there with sleep aids.
When you look at what sleeping pills do, and compare them to what they are supposed to do (and don't), it is obvious that this class should be quickly pulled from the market, and only prescribed to help patients withdraw from the addiction they create. If you are currently taking one of these medications, know that if you continue them for the next 30 months, you have somewhere between a 360% and 532% increased risk of dying than if you were able to stop them. Since I am not a medical doctor, I cannot recommend anyone change anything about their prescription medications. All I can do is warn you of what can happen if you continue to believe conventional medicine's lies. There are better, safer, natural options out there than can help with insomnia, as I detailed in my blog Is It Bedtime Yet?. One solution I didn't mention at the time includes the use of amino acids to balance brain chemistry, which has an extremely high effective rate in treating insomnia.
The decision to partake in the farce of sleeping pills is up to the individual, but so far, medicine hasn't been forthright in letting patients know the dangerous effects these medications have. If given all of the information, we can make good decisions. Unfortunately, you can't rely on conventional medicine to give you all the facts. That means you have to seek out information on your own, and often will end up more informed than the one prescribing the treatment. Know what you are putting in your body and how it can affect you. In this case, what you don't know can kill you.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
For full text of the study mentioned, visit here or to view the lead author's web book on the subject, see Dark Side of Sleeping Pills.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Beating the Stressors
As I continue the series on stress, I want to talk about a few lifestyle changes that can have a profound impact on how stress affects the body. Since it seems more and more of our stressors today are emotional (compared to physical or chemical), how we think and what we choose to do are of paramount importance. Let's look at some different tools that should be in our stress coping toolbox.
While I have been interested in helping my patients better deal with stress, it wasn't until the Central MN Emergency Services Chaplaincy (www.cmeschapaincy.org) asked me to conduct a training for them that I really delved into coping strategies. As I did, I found that religion, and Christianity specifically, has many stress reducing techniques built in.
Reconciliation and Forgiveness. One of the most important things we can do to reduce our stress load is to work on reconciliation and forgiveness. Regardless of who was wrong to begin with, holding grudges and continuing to "simmer" does no one any good. It is vitally important for us to forgive when we have felt wronged, and to reconcile with those who we believe have done that wrong. As parents and educators, it is even more important for us to leave the kids alone and let them hash it out on their own. As soon as you step in as a mediator, the reconciliation is difficult to achieve, especially for those who are close to begin with. If they aren't close to coming to blows, leave them alone and let them work it out. We need to learn we can't always do the fixing. Forgive and forget...always.
Prayer and Rosary Beads. Having someone you hold higher than yourself is important. While many argue against religion, time and again research has shown that those who have a firm belief in a higher being and pray regularly have a better stress response. For those Catholics specifically, praying the rosary has its own benefits as well. Find your higher power, and pray...often.
Philanthropy and Altruism. As I talked about in last week's blog, giving of yourself is vital for resiliency. It also helps to offset much of the stress response. When we are focused on helping others, our problems become less of a big deal, and the stress in our lives, while not diminished, becomes less important. Give of yourself...often.
Social Support and Warm Touch. This comes down to having a group of people who care about you, and letting yourself be touched by them. After one morning where I was lecturing to peace officers, I had a complaint from their chief that they came back and started hugging everyone. After I had a good laugh, I emphasized to him that what it meant was those officers felt they were cared for by his office, and wanted to show their support for him...with some warm touch, i.e. hug. Now, every time I see him, I get a hug from the chief. Parents, hug your kids and kids hug your parents. Spend time with those you care about, and don't be afraid to express yourself with some warm touch. Hug...a lot.
Intuitive Listening vs. Inner Dialogue - Tips on how to fight. We all fight, especially with our spouse. Whether we realize it or not, we fight with many others, just in less open ways. Remember that fighting is a choice, and it has to be chosen by both. There is no such thing as a one sided fight. Unfortunately, most of us end up following our inner dialogue, which deepens the fight, instead of intuitively listening. Our inner dialogue sounds like this.
1. Inner dialogue starts...This guy is impossible. I can't believe he did that. What was he thinking?
2. Defensiveness follows...It's not my fault this is happening, it's all on them. I didn't do anything wrong.
3. Depersonalization happens...What an idiot! Would you listen to that moron!?
4. Agitation and resentment is fostered...I'll show that SOB.
5. Recruitment ensues...It's time to tell the world and get others on your side.
As we go down the road of inner dialogue, we only increase our stress level, often for no good reason. If you think back to the last time you felt wronged, what did that person do? Was it really worth the effort it took to fight, reconcile, and forgive? The research shows us that if we can stop ourselves at step 1 or 2, we can head our stress off at the pass, and instead look towards reconciliation and forgiveness at a much earlier time, creating a whole lot less stress along the way. When that little guy starts tapping you on the shoulder and urges you to fight, brush him off and tell him to take a hike, it's usually not worth it. Fight only about important things...and don't rehash arguments.
Thankfulness. There are books written about how to be more thankful, and if we all read them and took them to heart, we'd have a whole lot less stress in our lives. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, if we instead focus on what we do, we have less stress. Whether we thank a higher power, or just thank those around us, having an attitude of gratitude instead of one of expectancy will make us much happier. Say thanks...to everyone.
Laughter. Ever end up on the Comedy channel when you're angry? How long before you flipped the channel or lost the anger? Laughing has been shown to have profound healing effects on the body, and has a huge impact on stress reduction. Seek out situations where you can laugh deeply and for a long time. Some of my worst days brightened quickly by a simple statement that struck me as funny, and I ended up laughing so hard I ended up crying. To be happy and healthy, laugh...lots and lots and lots and lots, and then some more.
This isn't an all inclusive list of things you can do to help deal with stress, but it does show some lifestyle changes we can all make that will not only lessen our stress, but make us happier and healthier along the way. You can choose to change a few, but if you really look at the list, which one would you choose first? They're all important to our emotional health. Be proactive in beating stress; choose them all.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
While I have been interested in helping my patients better deal with stress, it wasn't until the Central MN Emergency Services Chaplaincy (www.cmeschapaincy.org) asked me to conduct a training for them that I really delved into coping strategies. As I did, I found that religion, and Christianity specifically, has many stress reducing techniques built in.
Reconciliation and Forgiveness. One of the most important things we can do to reduce our stress load is to work on reconciliation and forgiveness. Regardless of who was wrong to begin with, holding grudges and continuing to "simmer" does no one any good. It is vitally important for us to forgive when we have felt wronged, and to reconcile with those who we believe have done that wrong. As parents and educators, it is even more important for us to leave the kids alone and let them hash it out on their own. As soon as you step in as a mediator, the reconciliation is difficult to achieve, especially for those who are close to begin with. If they aren't close to coming to blows, leave them alone and let them work it out. We need to learn we can't always do the fixing. Forgive and forget...always.
Prayer and Rosary Beads. Having someone you hold higher than yourself is important. While many argue against religion, time and again research has shown that those who have a firm belief in a higher being and pray regularly have a better stress response. For those Catholics specifically, praying the rosary has its own benefits as well. Find your higher power, and pray...often.
Philanthropy and Altruism. As I talked about in last week's blog, giving of yourself is vital for resiliency. It also helps to offset much of the stress response. When we are focused on helping others, our problems become less of a big deal, and the stress in our lives, while not diminished, becomes less important. Give of yourself...often.
Social Support and Warm Touch. This comes down to having a group of people who care about you, and letting yourself be touched by them. After one morning where I was lecturing to peace officers, I had a complaint from their chief that they came back and started hugging everyone. After I had a good laugh, I emphasized to him that what it meant was those officers felt they were cared for by his office, and wanted to show their support for him...with some warm touch, i.e. hug. Now, every time I see him, I get a hug from the chief. Parents, hug your kids and kids hug your parents. Spend time with those you care about, and don't be afraid to express yourself with some warm touch. Hug...a lot.
Intuitive Listening vs. Inner Dialogue - Tips on how to fight. We all fight, especially with our spouse. Whether we realize it or not, we fight with many others, just in less open ways. Remember that fighting is a choice, and it has to be chosen by both. There is no such thing as a one sided fight. Unfortunately, most of us end up following our inner dialogue, which deepens the fight, instead of intuitively listening. Our inner dialogue sounds like this.
1. Inner dialogue starts...This guy is impossible. I can't believe he did that. What was he thinking?
2. Defensiveness follows...It's not my fault this is happening, it's all on them. I didn't do anything wrong.
3. Depersonalization happens...What an idiot! Would you listen to that moron!?
4. Agitation and resentment is fostered...I'll show that SOB.
5. Recruitment ensues...It's time to tell the world and get others on your side.
As we go down the road of inner dialogue, we only increase our stress level, often for no good reason. If you think back to the last time you felt wronged, what did that person do? Was it really worth the effort it took to fight, reconcile, and forgive? The research shows us that if we can stop ourselves at step 1 or 2, we can head our stress off at the pass, and instead look towards reconciliation and forgiveness at a much earlier time, creating a whole lot less stress along the way. When that little guy starts tapping you on the shoulder and urges you to fight, brush him off and tell him to take a hike, it's usually not worth it. Fight only about important things...and don't rehash arguments.
Thankfulness. There are books written about how to be more thankful, and if we all read them and took them to heart, we'd have a whole lot less stress in our lives. Instead of focusing on what we don't have, if we instead focus on what we do, we have less stress. Whether we thank a higher power, or just thank those around us, having an attitude of gratitude instead of one of expectancy will make us much happier. Say thanks...to everyone.
Laughter. Ever end up on the Comedy channel when you're angry? How long before you flipped the channel or lost the anger? Laughing has been shown to have profound healing effects on the body, and has a huge impact on stress reduction. Seek out situations where you can laugh deeply and for a long time. Some of my worst days brightened quickly by a simple statement that struck me as funny, and I ended up laughing so hard I ended up crying. To be happy and healthy, laugh...lots and lots and lots and lots, and then some more.
This isn't an all inclusive list of things you can do to help deal with stress, but it does show some lifestyle changes we can all make that will not only lessen our stress, but make us happier and healthier along the way. You can choose to change a few, but if you really look at the list, which one would you choose first? They're all important to our emotional health. Be proactive in beating stress; choose them all.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Resilience vs. Vulnerability
Over the past several weeks' blogs, I have detailed many different ways that stress has a negative impact on the body. While I could probably go on for another few months (and I may add more in the future), I think it's time to skip to the end of the book, and see what we can do to help offset these effects. But, instead of the last page, let's just start the last chapter and look at the differences we see in people who are resilient compared to those who are vulnerable to the effects of stress.
Some of the best resiliency research compares average front line soldiers to those in special forces. More and more, we are seeing soldiers coming home with serious physical and emotional problems due to the stress of being in war. While we would think those that are in the highest stress situations (special forces) would have the worst problems, we in fact see the opposite. The worst symptoms show in the average line troops who may or may not see much action. Why is this? What's the difference between Rangers, SEALs, Delta, Green Beret, and Force Recon compared to the average Joe? What the research found gives us some insight into why some are resilient and others show susceptibility. Here are traits of those who are more resilient.
Good intellectual functioning. This is not to say those who are resilient are any smarter than those who aren't. In fact, the opposite may well be true. What this says, is that to be resilient, we need to use our brains effectively. We need to think through problems and not just react to situations. Keeping the brain active and working well helps to increase resiliency.
Effective regulation of emotions and attachment behaviors. To be more resilient, you must keep your emotions from ruling your life. Working to keep an even keel, and not swinging back and forth emotionally, leads to less stress response, and increased resiliency. Also, being able to keep an emotional distance is important. If you watch the news and see an item that is very disturbing, letting that gnaw at you when you cannot have any impact on it will just lead to more stress. Keeping an objectiveness in things you can't control is a trait that is good to develop.
Positive self concept. This comes down to respecting yourself and knowing you can do what you have to when it's necessary. Self image and self esteem combine into your self concept. There are many things you can do to improve your self concept, including recognizing your strengths, accentuating the positive in yourself, improving your attitude, and being around others who support your positivity. On the flip side, you can easily develop a negative self concept by putting yourself down, having a bad attitude, and spending time with those who enjoy degrading you.
Optimism. Those who have more resiliency are more optimistic than those who are vulnerable. Does this mean you blindly always expect only the best to happen? Doubtful. Does it mean you generally expect that more good things will happen than bad? Probably.
Altruism. If you want to develop resiliency, altruism needs to be a priority. Thinking of others before yourself, and acting on that, goes a long way to preventing stress from negatively affecting your body. Unfortunately, from my experience in today's world, altruism seems to be drying up. More and more it seems we are putting ourselves first and thinking we are more important than we truly are. I believe part of the benefit of altruism is the happiness and joy we feel when those we help do well.
A capacity to convert traumatic helplessness into learned helpfulness. We've all been in situations where we are totally helpless to either prevent something from happening or in making something come true. We are frustrated in our woeful inadequacy and inability to change outcomes. Those who are resilient learn from these situations, and when confronted with similar situations in the future, are better able to cope with it, or possibly change it before it happens. It is important to apply what we've learned so we don't repeat the same mistakes.
Active coping style when confronted with a stressor. When you are hit with a stressor, do you sit there and do nothing, allowing it to overwhelm you, or do you do something. It may not even be doing something about the situation, but do you DO something? Being active in the face of stress is important, and helps our bodies reset the response much more quickly.
Ability to bond with a group with a common mission. Whether it's work, a community organization, church, a book club, or just a group hanging out together, do you spend time with others who share a common goal and mission? We are social animals, and need to be with others who have similar goals and interests. Being on our own for very long itself is a stressor. Seek out others who you can bond with through common interests and goals.
Capacity to tolerate high levels of fear and still perform effectively. Courage is not the absence of fear, just ask any soldier returning from duty overseas. Courage is the ability to realize you may be terrified, but you still have to suck it up and get the job done. Being frozen with fear is a terrible situation for the body and mind to be in, and we need to do whatever we can to push on and continue to function. To begin with, we may need to rely on others' altruism to help us out, but eventually, we'll develop the strength to make it.
When you look at these traits, each and every one can be worked upon to improve in our lives. Taking one and focusing on it for a week at a time can significantly improve the response your body will have to stressors, and can take you from a position of vulnerability to one of resilience. Regardless of where you are now, you can always improve on these traits, transforming yourself from an average Joe to an elite, special ops stress beating commando. Choose to improve your resiliency, your health and your life depend on it.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Some of the best resiliency research compares average front line soldiers to those in special forces. More and more, we are seeing soldiers coming home with serious physical and emotional problems due to the stress of being in war. While we would think those that are in the highest stress situations (special forces) would have the worst problems, we in fact see the opposite. The worst symptoms show in the average line troops who may or may not see much action. Why is this? What's the difference between Rangers, SEALs, Delta, Green Beret, and Force Recon compared to the average Joe? What the research found gives us some insight into why some are resilient and others show susceptibility. Here are traits of those who are more resilient.
Good intellectual functioning. This is not to say those who are resilient are any smarter than those who aren't. In fact, the opposite may well be true. What this says, is that to be resilient, we need to use our brains effectively. We need to think through problems and not just react to situations. Keeping the brain active and working well helps to increase resiliency.
Effective regulation of emotions and attachment behaviors. To be more resilient, you must keep your emotions from ruling your life. Working to keep an even keel, and not swinging back and forth emotionally, leads to less stress response, and increased resiliency. Also, being able to keep an emotional distance is important. If you watch the news and see an item that is very disturbing, letting that gnaw at you when you cannot have any impact on it will just lead to more stress. Keeping an objectiveness in things you can't control is a trait that is good to develop.
Positive self concept. This comes down to respecting yourself and knowing you can do what you have to when it's necessary. Self image and self esteem combine into your self concept. There are many things you can do to improve your self concept, including recognizing your strengths, accentuating the positive in yourself, improving your attitude, and being around others who support your positivity. On the flip side, you can easily develop a negative self concept by putting yourself down, having a bad attitude, and spending time with those who enjoy degrading you.
Optimism. Those who have more resiliency are more optimistic than those who are vulnerable. Does this mean you blindly always expect only the best to happen? Doubtful. Does it mean you generally expect that more good things will happen than bad? Probably.
Altruism. If you want to develop resiliency, altruism needs to be a priority. Thinking of others before yourself, and acting on that, goes a long way to preventing stress from negatively affecting your body. Unfortunately, from my experience in today's world, altruism seems to be drying up. More and more it seems we are putting ourselves first and thinking we are more important than we truly are. I believe part of the benefit of altruism is the happiness and joy we feel when those we help do well.
A capacity to convert traumatic helplessness into learned helpfulness. We've all been in situations where we are totally helpless to either prevent something from happening or in making something come true. We are frustrated in our woeful inadequacy and inability to change outcomes. Those who are resilient learn from these situations, and when confronted with similar situations in the future, are better able to cope with it, or possibly change it before it happens. It is important to apply what we've learned so we don't repeat the same mistakes.
Active coping style when confronted with a stressor. When you are hit with a stressor, do you sit there and do nothing, allowing it to overwhelm you, or do you do something. It may not even be doing something about the situation, but do you DO something? Being active in the face of stress is important, and helps our bodies reset the response much more quickly.
Ability to bond with a group with a common mission. Whether it's work, a community organization, church, a book club, or just a group hanging out together, do you spend time with others who share a common goal and mission? We are social animals, and need to be with others who have similar goals and interests. Being on our own for very long itself is a stressor. Seek out others who you can bond with through common interests and goals.
Capacity to tolerate high levels of fear and still perform effectively. Courage is not the absence of fear, just ask any soldier returning from duty overseas. Courage is the ability to realize you may be terrified, but you still have to suck it up and get the job done. Being frozen with fear is a terrible situation for the body and mind to be in, and we need to do whatever we can to push on and continue to function. To begin with, we may need to rely on others' altruism to help us out, but eventually, we'll develop the strength to make it.
When you look at these traits, each and every one can be worked upon to improve in our lives. Taking one and focusing on it for a week at a time can significantly improve the response your body will have to stressors, and can take you from a position of vulnerability to one of resilience. Regardless of where you are now, you can always improve on these traits, transforming yourself from an average Joe to an elite, special ops stress beating commando. Choose to improve your resiliency, your health and your life depend on it.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Stress Is a Killer #5
In this week's blog, I want to take a closer look at the relationship cortisol has with some other major players in the hormone world. Specifically, I'm going to delve into how stress, and it's end product cortisol, can create abnormal function of the thyroid gland, accelerating deterioration and aging.
The thyroid is a gland in the front of your neck that has two lobes, each of which is set slightly below and on the side of your larynx (voice box). The major hormone it secretes is thyroxine, or T4. It does this in response to a cascade of hormones that starts in the hypothalamus (the master controller), a part of the brain that is constantly sampling the blood for levels of everything from glucose and hormone levels to temperature and pressure. When the hypothalamus senses low levels of thyroid hormones, it secretes Thyroid Releasing Factor (TRF), which travels a short distance to the pituitary gland. The pituitary, located as deep inside the skull as you can get, then secretes Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). Once TSH is released, it flows through the blood to the thyroid gland, and stimulates the release of T4.
In order for the thyroid to make T4, it needs certain raw materials, specifically iodine, selenium, vitamin E, tyrosine (a part of protein) and just the right amount of cortisol. Providing it has all of these in the right amounts, it sends T4 out into the body. Once there, T4 , really a pro-hormone, is converted to its active form, triiodothyronine (T3). This step also needs certain factors present, namely selenium, vitamin E, and just the right amount of cortisol.
Every cell in your body has receptors on its surface for T3, which, once activated, have a profound effect on your physiology. In a nutshell, when T3 stimulates those receptors, it speeds up your metabolic rate, or increases how much energy your body will burn at rest. By doing this, it tells all of your cells how quickly to do their work. With enough T3, your body has the ability to do its work at a normal pace and things work well.
With too much T3 (hyperthyroidism), the body is supercharged, and we end up seeing symptoms like anxiety, fast heart rate, high blood pressure, rapid breathing, elevated temperature, difficulty sleeping, bulging eyes, thin sweaty skin, tremors, fatigue, weight loss, increased appetite, weakness, loss of menstrual cycle, and frequent bowel movements.
Lack of T3 causes the opposite effects, and is termed hypothyroidism. With this condition, we see symptoms like hoarse voice, puffiness around the eyes, cold intolerance, dry hair that falls out easily, coarse dry skin, weight gain, fatigue, lethargy, forgetfulness, slow heart rate, constipation, nerve disturbances like carpal tunnel syndrome, heavy menstrual flow, and anemia. When you look at the symptoms of hypothyroidism as a whole, with a few exceptions, it looks very much like what we see in an aging person. In fact, there are some who theorize that aging is a process of slowly developing hypothyroidism, and if we kept the thyroid function normal, we would see a slowing of this process. While this is yet to be fully proven, it does show some interesting possibilities, especially since thyroid function can be influences quickly and relatively easily with proper diet and lifestyle changes added to targeted nutrition.
Frank hypothyroidism is rarely caused by stress and cortisol, but there is a condition termed Euthyroid Sick Syndrome (ESS), that can be. In this condition, we see patients having many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but when we look at their lab results, they look normal. One of the issues with this condition is that in medicine, rarely do we look past the TSH test. I believe this is paramount to profession wide malpractice, but it is all that is usually looked at. In fact, this isn't even looking at thyroid function at all, but instead is peering at the pituitary's function. TSH is often normal in patients, yet when I look closer at their complete thyroid panel, there are significant abnormalities.
In the patient whose body is functioning normally and has just the right amount of cortisol, the body will secrete the right amount of T4 and activate it to T3. In those with high or low cortisol levels or those lacking adequate vitamin E or selenium, we see a different picture. While some T4 will still be made, the body has a different pathway to make T3, and we end up with a different product. Instead of activating T4 to T3, we get what is called reverse T3 (rT3). It looks exactly like regular T3, but it is a mirror image. It's no different than looking at your right hand compared to your left. They normally have identical numbers of fingers and a thumb, but the thumb is on the opposite side. If you put your left hand into a left handed glove, it works fine. If instead, you put the right hand into that left handed glove, things don't work so well. This is the case with rT3.
When the body has been exposed to high stress levels for extended periods, the body starts making less T4, and what T4 is made is then converted mostly to rT3, which changes how the body functions. Without T3, the cells start going into a hypothyroid state, and we get sluggish metabolism. With elevated rT3, we get these results exaggerated, since not only is the receptor blocked so T3 can't get there, but rT3 also shuts the receptor off, and can get stuck, just like a right hand in a left handed glove. In this case, the body will recognize it has plenty of thyroid hormone, since there is plenty, but it's too much rT3, and things are shutting down, yet the TSH will be normal or even low. According to medicine, the patient is fine, yet the reality is that they are far from fine. Their body is functioning as someone who is hypothyroid, yet it is unrecognized.
I see patients who exhibit ESS on a regular basis, and it is a fairly straightforward condition to treat. By doing a full thyroid lab workup, it is not that difficult to differentiate. Once found, I can counsel the patient on avoiding things that will aggravate the condition, and we can target nutritional therapy to not only help the body make more T3 instead of rT3, but also help the adrenals function better and secrete the proper amount of cortisol. Even frank hypothyroidism can be treated nutritionally, reducing the need for synthetic medications, all of which have some unwanted effects.
As we continue this discussion on stress in future blogs, you'll see how stress affects all of the systems in our bodies, and we cannot be healthy if we are not addressing how our body reacts to stress. Stress has a huge impact on thyroid function, and your body will deteriorate quickly and steadily if you ignore it. For a long healthy life, stress must be addressed, its impact on the thyroid should be assessed, and appropriate therapies added to help regain its optimal function.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
The thyroid is a gland in the front of your neck that has two lobes, each of which is set slightly below and on the side of your larynx (voice box). The major hormone it secretes is thyroxine, or T4. It does this in response to a cascade of hormones that starts in the hypothalamus (the master controller), a part of the brain that is constantly sampling the blood for levels of everything from glucose and hormone levels to temperature and pressure. When the hypothalamus senses low levels of thyroid hormones, it secretes Thyroid Releasing Factor (TRF), which travels a short distance to the pituitary gland. The pituitary, located as deep inside the skull as you can get, then secretes Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH). Once TSH is released, it flows through the blood to the thyroid gland, and stimulates the release of T4.
In order for the thyroid to make T4, it needs certain raw materials, specifically iodine, selenium, vitamin E, tyrosine (a part of protein) and just the right amount of cortisol. Providing it has all of these in the right amounts, it sends T4 out into the body. Once there, T4 , really a pro-hormone, is converted to its active form, triiodothyronine (T3). This step also needs certain factors present, namely selenium, vitamin E, and just the right amount of cortisol.
Every cell in your body has receptors on its surface for T3, which, once activated, have a profound effect on your physiology. In a nutshell, when T3 stimulates those receptors, it speeds up your metabolic rate, or increases how much energy your body will burn at rest. By doing this, it tells all of your cells how quickly to do their work. With enough T3, your body has the ability to do its work at a normal pace and things work well.
With too much T3 (hyperthyroidism), the body is supercharged, and we end up seeing symptoms like anxiety, fast heart rate, high blood pressure, rapid breathing, elevated temperature, difficulty sleeping, bulging eyes, thin sweaty skin, tremors, fatigue, weight loss, increased appetite, weakness, loss of menstrual cycle, and frequent bowel movements.
Lack of T3 causes the opposite effects, and is termed hypothyroidism. With this condition, we see symptoms like hoarse voice, puffiness around the eyes, cold intolerance, dry hair that falls out easily, coarse dry skin, weight gain, fatigue, lethargy, forgetfulness, slow heart rate, constipation, nerve disturbances like carpal tunnel syndrome, heavy menstrual flow, and anemia. When you look at the symptoms of hypothyroidism as a whole, with a few exceptions, it looks very much like what we see in an aging person. In fact, there are some who theorize that aging is a process of slowly developing hypothyroidism, and if we kept the thyroid function normal, we would see a slowing of this process. While this is yet to be fully proven, it does show some interesting possibilities, especially since thyroid function can be influences quickly and relatively easily with proper diet and lifestyle changes added to targeted nutrition.
Frank hypothyroidism is rarely caused by stress and cortisol, but there is a condition termed Euthyroid Sick Syndrome (ESS), that can be. In this condition, we see patients having many of the symptoms of hypothyroidism, but when we look at their lab results, they look normal. One of the issues with this condition is that in medicine, rarely do we look past the TSH test. I believe this is paramount to profession wide malpractice, but it is all that is usually looked at. In fact, this isn't even looking at thyroid function at all, but instead is peering at the pituitary's function. TSH is often normal in patients, yet when I look closer at their complete thyroid panel, there are significant abnormalities.
In the patient whose body is functioning normally and has just the right amount of cortisol, the body will secrete the right amount of T4 and activate it to T3. In those with high or low cortisol levels or those lacking adequate vitamin E or selenium, we see a different picture. While some T4 will still be made, the body has a different pathway to make T3, and we end up with a different product. Instead of activating T4 to T3, we get what is called reverse T3 (rT3). It looks exactly like regular T3, but it is a mirror image. It's no different than looking at your right hand compared to your left. They normally have identical numbers of fingers and a thumb, but the thumb is on the opposite side. If you put your left hand into a left handed glove, it works fine. If instead, you put the right hand into that left handed glove, things don't work so well. This is the case with rT3.
When the body has been exposed to high stress levels for extended periods, the body starts making less T4, and what T4 is made is then converted mostly to rT3, which changes how the body functions. Without T3, the cells start going into a hypothyroid state, and we get sluggish metabolism. With elevated rT3, we get these results exaggerated, since not only is the receptor blocked so T3 can't get there, but rT3 also shuts the receptor off, and can get stuck, just like a right hand in a left handed glove. In this case, the body will recognize it has plenty of thyroid hormone, since there is plenty, but it's too much rT3, and things are shutting down, yet the TSH will be normal or even low. According to medicine, the patient is fine, yet the reality is that they are far from fine. Their body is functioning as someone who is hypothyroid, yet it is unrecognized.
I see patients who exhibit ESS on a regular basis, and it is a fairly straightforward condition to treat. By doing a full thyroid lab workup, it is not that difficult to differentiate. Once found, I can counsel the patient on avoiding things that will aggravate the condition, and we can target nutritional therapy to not only help the body make more T3 instead of rT3, but also help the adrenals function better and secrete the proper amount of cortisol. Even frank hypothyroidism can be treated nutritionally, reducing the need for synthetic medications, all of which have some unwanted effects.
As we continue this discussion on stress in future blogs, you'll see how stress affects all of the systems in our bodies, and we cannot be healthy if we are not addressing how our body reacts to stress. Stress has a huge impact on thyroid function, and your body will deteriorate quickly and steadily if you ignore it. For a long healthy life, stress must be addressed, its impact on the thyroid should be assessed, and appropriate therapies added to help regain its optimal function.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Stress Is a Killer #4
This week we'll continue our discussion on stress and its impact on us. So far, everything I've talked about has pertained to medicine's "normal", a 20 year old male. While I won't agree that today's average 20 year old male is either healthy or "normal", we use this group in medicine as our standard test subject for one simple reason: we can get 20 year old males to do just about anything for beer money. We find it more difficult to get 20 year old women to do the same, and once they are out of college and into the work force, we have a harder time getting male subjects as well. For this week's discussion, it's important to remember that men and women are different (and that's OK), kids are NOT little adults, and we change as we age.
Women and Stress
In general, women secrete a higher level of cortisol (remember that's our hormonal end product of exposure to stressors). This higher secretion means that all of the cortisol effects will be higher in women than men. However, there are some differences in how cortisol affects women. When a man's brain is exposed to cortisol, we found they had a decreased memory function overall, but specifically a decrease in spatial memory. We find neither of these happen in women. When I lecture to peace officers, they are not surprised by this. In stressful situations, women will have a better recollection of the details of what happened, and not fill in as much as men do. That means that in a given stressful situation, women are generally the more reliable eye witnesses.
The cortisol production fluctuates in women according to their menstrual cycle. This makes sense when you look at the biochemical pathways, and how intricate hormones interact. Starting on day one of the menstrual cycle (follicular phase), women will have a blunted response for the next 14 days. This means they will produce less cortisol during this time in response to stressors. For the last 14 days of the cycle (luteal phase), there is a significant increase in production. In this time period, stress will have a more detrimental effect on their health. When we add in oral contraceptives, we see a response much like that of the follicular phase. If you look at total levels given the same stressor, you see cortisol secretion as follows (high to low): luteal > men > follicular > oral contraceptives. Does this mean oral contraceptives are a good thing in relation to the stress response? No. The negative effects created by oral contraceptives far outweigh any changes we may see in relation to stress. Look for a future blog that explains how oral contraceptives are causing many health problems for women today.
While women have a higher level of cortisol secretion compared to men, they also have a blunted response to its feedback. Their brains are less sensitive to its effects, so when the levels increase, they have a slower "off" switch than do men. This means it will stay in their system longer, creating more potential negative effects in the long run. When we add the fact that cortisol inhibits the secretion of estrogens and progesterone to the equation, we see that stress can have a significant effect on fertility and the ability to get and stay pregnant. This makes perfect sense if you consider the developmental aspect: are you concerned with reproducing when the saber tooth tiger is breathing down your neck? Probably not.
In addition to differences in memory and feedback, cortisol also changes how the brain of a woman focuses. When exposed to stressors, the limbic section of a woman's brain shows significant increase in function. This section of our brain is where all of our "feelings" are housed and expressed. There is also a significant increase in ruminative thinking or rewinding. When stressed, women start rewinding and reviewing past events, what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". They use their past memories, going over and over them, trying to make sense of what's happening now. Stress also increases anxiety more in women than men.
When we compare overt actions in response to stress, we find another significant difference. While men express the classic "fight or flight" mechanism, women will express a "tend and befriend" response instead. When you think again of development, this makes sense. With most hunter/gatherer societies, men could be gone from camp for most of the day, and often for extended periods on week long hunts. That left the camp with minimal protection from neighboring tribes who weren't always friendly. If an unwelcome visitor came calling, a "fight or flight" response could often lead to unwanted trouble. If instead, a "tend and befriend" attitude, where the unwelcome visitor was welcomed in, tended to, and conversed with was adopted, it could often give the hunters time to get back to camp and expel the visitor. Different survival mechanisms develop based on different situations.
Stress and Kids
In Mom's Stress Isn't Trivial, I discussed prenatal stress exposure and the profound changes it can have on our kids. In addition to that, we see long term effects when our kids are stressed. Early life stress can elevate CRH levels for life, creating all the negative effects associated, including increased risk of affect disorders, like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar. Before puberty, we see kids reacting the same, regardless of sex, but once adolescence starts, we see a divergence based on sex, where boys start acting like men, and girls like women.
Stress and Aging
It's very interesting to look at the stress response as we age. When we look at women, we really don't see much change except a gradual decline in response. However, when we look at men, we see their responses, including hormone levels, biochemical responses, and reactions, look much more like adult women, with the overall response being less. Whether this is part of the deterioration caused by aging or causes some of this deterioration, we really don't know. I hypothesize that if we could improve our response to stressors early in life and reduce their overall effects, we might see less deterioration, but I haven't seen anyone out there yet studying that.
It is important to remember that stress affects us differently based on our age and sex. Expecting a male response from a female, or a female reaction from a male, will only lead to more stress to ourselves. Part of coping with stress well and minimizing its effects on us includes knowing how to best interact with those around us. Treating your kids and your spouse the same isn't effective. Knowing those who influence your life, and how they react compared to yourself can have a profound impact on your happiness.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Women and Stress
In general, women secrete a higher level of cortisol (remember that's our hormonal end product of exposure to stressors). This higher secretion means that all of the cortisol effects will be higher in women than men. However, there are some differences in how cortisol affects women. When a man's brain is exposed to cortisol, we found they had a decreased memory function overall, but specifically a decrease in spatial memory. We find neither of these happen in women. When I lecture to peace officers, they are not surprised by this. In stressful situations, women will have a better recollection of the details of what happened, and not fill in as much as men do. That means that in a given stressful situation, women are generally the more reliable eye witnesses.
The cortisol production fluctuates in women according to their menstrual cycle. This makes sense when you look at the biochemical pathways, and how intricate hormones interact. Starting on day one of the menstrual cycle (follicular phase), women will have a blunted response for the next 14 days. This means they will produce less cortisol during this time in response to stressors. For the last 14 days of the cycle (luteal phase), there is a significant increase in production. In this time period, stress will have a more detrimental effect on their health. When we add in oral contraceptives, we see a response much like that of the follicular phase. If you look at total levels given the same stressor, you see cortisol secretion as follows (high to low): luteal > men > follicular > oral contraceptives. Does this mean oral contraceptives are a good thing in relation to the stress response? No. The negative effects created by oral contraceptives far outweigh any changes we may see in relation to stress. Look for a future blog that explains how oral contraceptives are causing many health problems for women today.
While women have a higher level of cortisol secretion compared to men, they also have a blunted response to its feedback. Their brains are less sensitive to its effects, so when the levels increase, they have a slower "off" switch than do men. This means it will stay in their system longer, creating more potential negative effects in the long run. When we add the fact that cortisol inhibits the secretion of estrogens and progesterone to the equation, we see that stress can have a significant effect on fertility and the ability to get and stay pregnant. This makes perfect sense if you consider the developmental aspect: are you concerned with reproducing when the saber tooth tiger is breathing down your neck? Probably not.
In addition to differences in memory and feedback, cortisol also changes how the brain of a woman focuses. When exposed to stressors, the limbic section of a woman's brain shows significant increase in function. This section of our brain is where all of our "feelings" are housed and expressed. There is also a significant increase in ruminative thinking or rewinding. When stressed, women start rewinding and reviewing past events, what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". They use their past memories, going over and over them, trying to make sense of what's happening now. Stress also increases anxiety more in women than men.
When we compare overt actions in response to stress, we find another significant difference. While men express the classic "fight or flight" mechanism, women will express a "tend and befriend" response instead. When you think again of development, this makes sense. With most hunter/gatherer societies, men could be gone from camp for most of the day, and often for extended periods on week long hunts. That left the camp with minimal protection from neighboring tribes who weren't always friendly. If an unwelcome visitor came calling, a "fight or flight" response could often lead to unwanted trouble. If instead, a "tend and befriend" attitude, where the unwelcome visitor was welcomed in, tended to, and conversed with was adopted, it could often give the hunters time to get back to camp and expel the visitor. Different survival mechanisms develop based on different situations.
Stress and Kids
In Mom's Stress Isn't Trivial, I discussed prenatal stress exposure and the profound changes it can have on our kids. In addition to that, we see long term effects when our kids are stressed. Early life stress can elevate CRH levels for life, creating all the negative effects associated, including increased risk of affect disorders, like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar. Before puberty, we see kids reacting the same, regardless of sex, but once adolescence starts, we see a divergence based on sex, where boys start acting like men, and girls like women.
Stress and Aging
It's very interesting to look at the stress response as we age. When we look at women, we really don't see much change except a gradual decline in response. However, when we look at men, we see their responses, including hormone levels, biochemical responses, and reactions, look much more like adult women, with the overall response being less. Whether this is part of the deterioration caused by aging or causes some of this deterioration, we really don't know. I hypothesize that if we could improve our response to stressors early in life and reduce their overall effects, we might see less deterioration, but I haven't seen anyone out there yet studying that.
It is important to remember that stress affects us differently based on our age and sex. Expecting a male response from a female, or a female reaction from a male, will only lead to more stress to ourselves. Part of coping with stress well and minimizing its effects on us includes knowing how to best interact with those around us. Treating your kids and your spouse the same isn't effective. Knowing those who influence your life, and how they react compared to yourself can have a profound impact on your happiness.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Stress Is a Killer #3
Over the past few weeks' blogs, I've talked about how stress can affect the function of our bodies, and this week we'll continue along that same line as we explore further how the brain is impacted by stress. Remembering that cortisol is the end product of our body encountering stressors, let's look at how cortisol affects the brain and nervous system.
Brain Chemistry 101:
The nerves that make up your nervous system communicate through biochemicals called neurotransmitters. To date, we've identified over 100 of these, and they have a wide range of impacts on our function. Cortisol has an impact on many of these, and therefore directly impacts how our brains function. Since most of us want a healthy and optimally functioning brain, controlling stress in our lives and helping our bodies minimize the reaction to stressors can have a profound impact on our brain and mental-emotional health.
One of the biggest impacts cortisol has on our nervous system is to increase the amount of norepinephrine (NE). NE is not only a potent neurotransmitter that stimulates our nervous system into a fight or flight mode, but it is also a hormone that does the same thing on a system wide basis. It does things like increase heart rate and blood pressure, open the bronchioles so we can get more air in the lungs, increases blood flow and reflex speed of the muscles, and shunts more blood to the brain. While more blood to the brain is a good thing, it does this at the expense of the digestive system, thereby making it more difficult to process your food. Long term exposure also poses problems for the heart and blood vessels due to the increased heart rate and blood pressure.
With increased exposure to stressors, the brain releases more corticotropic releasing factor (CRH). In addition to the hormonal aspects we discussed in previous blogs, it also has a local impact on the brain, impairing sleep, enhancing vigilance, and decreasing melatonin. Sleep and vigilance are problems for many, and melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant our body produces that also helps with sleep. Overall, excessive CRH production creates problems with a restful night's sleep.
Another neurotransmitter that is increased with cortisol is glutamate, which is excitatory to the brain, and can be neurotoxic at high levels. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA), which is also increased with cortisol, enhances the effects of glutamate, making it more toxic. It is important for reconsolidation of memories, or what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". When NMDA is high, we tend to spend more time thinking of past events, which can not only make it difficult to concentrate on the moment, but also can significantly increase our stress level. In addition, NMDA itself is neurotoxic when elevated.
While cortisol increases NE, CRH, glutamate, and NMDA (all not good in the long term), it also decreases certain other neurotransmitters, including Brain Derived Neuronal Factor (BDNF), gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), serotonin, dopamine, neuropeptide Y, and galanin. BDNF is something you really want a good amount in your brain, since it is one of the important factors that helps nerve cells heal. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps us focus. Serotonin has a huge impact on mood and keeping us happy while dopamine is necessary for movement and motor function. Neuropeptide Y and galanin protect our brains from the effects of CRH and minimize anxiety. All of these neurotransmitters that are decreased with excessive cortisol we want in good amounts for healthy brains.
Another chemical that is suppressed by cortisol is oxytocin. While most noted as a hormone that stimulates labor and milk production after pregnancy, for many years we were clueless as to why it appeared in males. We now know it plays an important role in our social interactions. Oxytocin is released when we are among those whose company we enjoy, and is very important for decreasing anxiety. It also reduces our blood pressure and increases our pain thresholds. It's has been likened to a "love hormone" as well, since it is what seems to be released during the courtship phase of a relationship and after sex.
Beyond neurotrasmitters, cortisol creates functional changes in the brain. It creates significant problems specifically with memory. Part of the issue deals with transitioning short term memories into long term storage, while it also negatively affects our spatial memory function. This is our ability to remember details about stressful situations, and is one reason why the police may find several witnesses that all saw the exact same thing, yet none of them recall the same scene. By having spatial memory suppressed, it makes the brain "fill in the gaps" with what it thinks should have been happening, or with other memories that may be less traumatic.
As a whole, it can be simply stated that either long term or single high event exposure to stress can significantly increase the risk of affect disorders, most notably mood disorders like anxiety and depression, but also things like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoia, and delusions. In plain English, your brain does not like stress, and it will become damaged if you don't effectively deal with the stressors in your life.
In future blogs, we'll continue to look at how stress affects us, and how we can minimize it's impact.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Brain Chemistry 101:
The nerves that make up your nervous system communicate through biochemicals called neurotransmitters. To date, we've identified over 100 of these, and they have a wide range of impacts on our function. Cortisol has an impact on many of these, and therefore directly impacts how our brains function. Since most of us want a healthy and optimally functioning brain, controlling stress in our lives and helping our bodies minimize the reaction to stressors can have a profound impact on our brain and mental-emotional health.
One of the biggest impacts cortisol has on our nervous system is to increase the amount of norepinephrine (NE). NE is not only a potent neurotransmitter that stimulates our nervous system into a fight or flight mode, but it is also a hormone that does the same thing on a system wide basis. It does things like increase heart rate and blood pressure, open the bronchioles so we can get more air in the lungs, increases blood flow and reflex speed of the muscles, and shunts more blood to the brain. While more blood to the brain is a good thing, it does this at the expense of the digestive system, thereby making it more difficult to process your food. Long term exposure also poses problems for the heart and blood vessels due to the increased heart rate and blood pressure.
With increased exposure to stressors, the brain releases more corticotropic releasing factor (CRH). In addition to the hormonal aspects we discussed in previous blogs, it also has a local impact on the brain, impairing sleep, enhancing vigilance, and decreasing melatonin. Sleep and vigilance are problems for many, and melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant our body produces that also helps with sleep. Overall, excessive CRH production creates problems with a restful night's sleep.
Another neurotransmitter that is increased with cortisol is glutamate, which is excitatory to the brain, and can be neurotoxic at high levels. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA), which is also increased with cortisol, enhances the effects of glutamate, making it more toxic. It is important for reconsolidation of memories, or what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". When NMDA is high, we tend to spend more time thinking of past events, which can not only make it difficult to concentrate on the moment, but also can significantly increase our stress level. In addition, NMDA itself is neurotoxic when elevated.
While cortisol increases NE, CRH, glutamate, and NMDA (all not good in the long term), it also decreases certain other neurotransmitters, including Brain Derived Neuronal Factor (BDNF), gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), serotonin, dopamine, neuropeptide Y, and galanin. BDNF is something you really want a good amount in your brain, since it is one of the important factors that helps nerve cells heal. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps us focus. Serotonin has a huge impact on mood and keeping us happy while dopamine is necessary for movement and motor function. Neuropeptide Y and galanin protect our brains from the effects of CRH and minimize anxiety. All of these neurotransmitters that are decreased with excessive cortisol we want in good amounts for healthy brains.
Another chemical that is suppressed by cortisol is oxytocin. While most noted as a hormone that stimulates labor and milk production after pregnancy, for many years we were clueless as to why it appeared in males. We now know it plays an important role in our social interactions. Oxytocin is released when we are among those whose company we enjoy, and is very important for decreasing anxiety. It also reduces our blood pressure and increases our pain thresholds. It's has been likened to a "love hormone" as well, since it is what seems to be released during the courtship phase of a relationship and after sex.
Beyond neurotrasmitters, cortisol creates functional changes in the brain. It creates significant problems specifically with memory. Part of the issue deals with transitioning short term memories into long term storage, while it also negatively affects our spatial memory function. This is our ability to remember details about stressful situations, and is one reason why the police may find several witnesses that all saw the exact same thing, yet none of them recall the same scene. By having spatial memory suppressed, it makes the brain "fill in the gaps" with what it thinks should have been happening, or with other memories that may be less traumatic.
As a whole, it can be simply stated that either long term or single high event exposure to stress can significantly increase the risk of affect disorders, most notably mood disorders like anxiety and depression, but also things like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoia, and delusions. In plain English, your brain does not like stress, and it will become damaged if you don't effectively deal with the stressors in your life.
In future blogs, we'll continue to look at how stress affects us, and how we can minimize it's impact.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)