James. Post #3
Topic: Health
"Really? Constant Stress Makes You
Sick"
by Anahad O'Connor
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/really-the-claim-constant-stress-makes-you-sick/
Date published: April 9th 2012
Length of article: 1 page
Scientists have known for a long time that
psychological stress can increase illness. Diseases linked to stress are
colds, flu, heart disease, and allergies. It has recently been discovered
in research that the link is through the hormone cortisol. What cortisol
does for your body is release a burst of energy at times of stress. The
body's immune system reacts to infection by creating inflammation related to
sneezes, coughs, or fevers. Too much inflammation is harmful and cortisol keeps
the immune response under control.
When a person is stressed, he or she has high levels of cortisol and the
body responds by becoming less sensitive to it. A body resistant to cortisol
has higher inflammation and therefore more severe symptoms of illness.
Carnegie Mellon researchers found that healthy adults in stressful
situations who had been exposed to cold viruses had the most resistance to
cortisol, and developed colds. They also showed more inflammation and
stronger cold symptoms.
This article is important because inflammation is linked to several
different diseases, so scientists are seeing a strong link between stress and many
illnesses. The article is meaningful
for the population at Gunn because we often find ourselves
in situations that are stressful.
I think this could be really important to students in college as well as high school. Stress is a huge factor in school life, and people don't understand how detremental it can be to someone's health. Whether it be an upcoming test, or something social like a dance, people worry about things that won't really matter in the long run. Students sometimes put stress on themselves to excel in everything, when really it is unhealthy to them.
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