Estrés
Cuidado con el estrés!!!
Researchers from Ohio University found that levels of a protein that rise in response to inflammation, called C-reactive proteins, increase when a person is asked to think about a negative and stressful event.
The study, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society, included 34 women who were healthy. The women were instructed to give a speech to two interviewers, who wore lab coats and didn’t show any expressions on their faces, about why they were deserving of a job (an objectively stressful experience!).
After their speeches, half the study participants were asked to ruminate about how well they did on their speech, while the other half of the participants were asked to ruminate on neutral things, like going to the grocery store.
Researchers drew blood samples from both groups of the study participants, and found that those asked to ruminate on their speech had higher levels of C-reactive protein than those who were asked to ruminate about neutral things.
Por lo tanto el estres produce la proteina C-Reactiva que esta asociada con procesos inflamatorios, lo cual a su vez esta asociado con enfermedades con la depresion, problemas cardiacos o incluso cancer.
Parece ser que el Estrés puede producir permeabilidad intestinal o colaborar a que ocurra.
Vease Permeabilidad intestinal: salud-f106/permeabilidad-intestinal-t1133.html
Fuente: http://ajpgi.physiology.org/content/280/1/G7.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1592668/
Previous observations by the same group of investigators found that chronic psychological stress induced mast cell-dependent bacterial attachment to the epithelium and increased bacterial translocation.
The findings of Yang and colleagues that stress may contribute to food allergies by increasing transepithelial permeability bears particular interest in view of the protective role played by endogenous bacteria in modulating the development of allergies.
Helicobacter pylori has the ability to increase the passage of food antigens across the gastric epithelium,11 and infection with this gastric pathogen may be associated with the development of food allergies.
Conclusion! El estres hace que la HP ataque al estomago/duodeno haciendo que sea mas permeable, la permeablidad permite que los alimentos pasen a la sangre y ahi el sistema inmune ataca creando intolerancias alimenticias:
Ver: salud-f106/permeabilidad-intestinal-t1133.html
Recordemos que la mitad de la poblacion tiene HP y que el estres puede hacer que esto sea un problema y se complique… Ejemplo… Yo mismo!
When a person is under a lot of stress the normal functions of the organs in the body are compromised. With the adrenal glands especially vulnerable as they are responsible for producing the hormones that provide the stress response. Over a long time if stress continues the adrenals will weaken in their ability to ‘keep up’, and then you may find yourself with adrenal fatigue. Our bodies respond to stress by entering ‘fight or flight’, a sympathetic system response. What happens is that the blood supply to the skeletal and heart muscles, brain, skin and lungs increases, during this response the blood supply to the kidneys, liver, stomach and intestines diminishes. As a result, digestion, detoxification and elimination are all put on the back burner and now become problematic.
Here’s the chain of effects of stress; We perceive a stressor, whatever it may be, and our hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone. This hormone then travels to the pituitary where it activates adrenocorticotropic hormone (or ACTH). ACTH actually stimulates your adrenal glands to fire. This pathway, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenals is known as the HPA axis. When this HPA axis is repeatedly disrupted there are other hormones that are thrown out of balance. Our thyroid can be affected, growth hormone, sex hormones and aldosterone. This can have profound consequences on overall health.
Our two key stress hormones are adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) and noradrenaline (or norepinephrine). They each have a complex role to play in every stress response, adrenaline however is more known for what we call the ‘adrenaline rush’, and exhilerating ‘high’ in the face of intense situations. Cortisol is another key stress hormone we all need to become familiar with. Cortisol’s key job is to sustain our blood sugar levels when we have to enter ‘fight or flight’ mode. This is so that our muscles, brain, heart and lungs get quick energy in the face of an ‘emergency’. Short term stress followed by rest is not the problem, it’s the long term stress that wreaks havoc because cortisol ends up keeping our blood sugar levels permanently high. This messes with our metabolism, making it very hard to lose weight (ever notice all the spare tires people are carrying around these days -it’s also a sign of insulin resistance). Cortisol also governs hunger cravings, digestion (as I mentioned), blood pressure, sleep/wake patterns, physical activity, and our capacity to deal with stress. Cortisol keeps us alive by raising our blood sugar, increasing our blood pressure when needed and modulating inflammation.
Cortisol also works together with aldosterone to help our kidneys reabsorb sodium. What this does is help to conserve electrolytes and water in our bloodstream. This helps in ‘fight-or-flight’ to make sure extra blood can easily get pumped into our critical organs and tissues. If high levels of cortisol remain circulating in our system for 24 hours or more, the cells that produce aldosterone lose their sensitivity to ACTH. So then this leads to under production of aldosterone and cause low blood pressure, bloating, water retention, electrolyte imbalance, increased thirst, salt cravings, muscle weakness and that lethargy that comes with adrenal fatigue.
Of course stress also rapidly depletes many nutrients in the body, such as; b vitamins, zinc and vitamin C. It will be critical to replace these nutrients if you live a stressful life. A real food, nutrient dense diet is a must and additional supplements may also be warranted. Overeating and undereating are both common during times of stress, or an overall stressful lifestyle. A typical scenario would be that people crave excess sugars/carbs as a means to get some sort of ‘quick fuel or energy’. The problem with this is that is becomes a vicious cycle and only leads to further depletion and decline. Under-eating may occur since stress can cause an imbalance in the hormone cascade which can actually work to dull your appetite. Even if you don’t feel hungry, especially in the morning, it is critical to make yourself eat consistent meals. This will help your blood sugar to regulate and even out your cortisol levels and help your adrenals to heal more quickly.
Más allá de estos efectos concretos, yo tengo clarísimo que sí, que el estrés nos perjudica muchísimo a nivel físico. Yo me noto determinados síntomas (supongo que cada cual tiene los suyos) que me sirven de alertas: un ligero tic en el párpado del ojo izquierdo (imperceptible para la gente, pero que yo sí me lo noto), tránsito intestinal claramente alterado, cervicales perjudicadas… Cuando ya me noto demasiadas cosas necesito parar, respirar, intentar poner cosas en prespectiva… pero no es nada sencillo. Creo que decir a alguien que no se estrese es como decir a un deprimido que se anime. Aunque bueno, intento buscar cosas que me sirvan de desconexión. Algo que me suele funcionar es dejarlo todo y mirarme 5 o 6 episodios seguidos de la serie que en ese momento esté siguiendo. Pero claro, esto es para casos ya un poco extremos (si tengo que estar así cada dos días, mal vamos).
Nigma, yo tengo sintomas similares cuando estoy estresado, el tick en el ojo, o incluso en los dos, es dificil de percibir pero se puede ver, hace ya muchisimo que no me ocurre… Lo de las cervicales, yo creo que tambien me pasa, yo siempre estoy con los musculos de esa zona agarrotados y eso que mi mujer es fisioterapeuta, lo del tracto intestinal no lo tengo muy claro, me tendre que fijar la proxima vez que me estrese!
Yo he llegado a un nivel de estres de tener depresion profunda, sin ningun motivo, ser totalmente consciente de no tener motivos para estar deprimido y estarlo de una forma brutal y saber que es simplemente psicologico… Solo una vez llegue a ese punto y creo que todavia estoy pagando las consecuencias! Nunca mais!
When stress dominates our body loses essential minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Stress will cause an increase in adrenal output of mineral corticoids. Stimulation of the adrenal glands tend to increase the secretion of hormones that cause a loss of minerals. Mineralocorticoids are a class of steroid hormones characterized by their influence on salt and water balances, which also has a relationship with calcium. The primary mineralocorticoid is aldosterone. When the stress response is ongoing other minerals can actually build up in the body, such as potassium, sodium and phosphorous. This is due to a change in intestinal absorption (since digestion takes a back seat when we are in fight-or-flight mode) and re-absorption by the kidneys of these elements. This is how some types of high blood pressure can flare up, due to stress and the increase of sodium with a corresponding loss of calcium and magnesium. Prolonged stress can result in severe mineral deficiencies.
Stress also changes your metabolism and causes the body to retain minerals that are needed to stimulate, while at the same time lose nutrients/minerals needed to help calm the body. Eventually, if the stress continues the body will slowly lose it’s ability to adequately store sedative minerals. One such mineral would be magnesium. Magnesium is particularly sensitive to stress. Emotional stress and alcohol consumption are the two main ways people in this culture lose magnesium. Sugary diets are another big factor for magnesium loss. Excessive exercise, pregnancy, breast feeding, medication, frequent infections also deplete magnesium. The problem is the more magnesium that is depleted the less able one is to deal with stress since magnesium is a natural sedative. The edgier you are the more likely it is you are depleted in magnesium.
Chromium is another mineral that is affected due to stress, either physiological or emotional. Excess sugar in the diet can increase the need for chromium at the same time as create a greater stress on the body, creating a vicious cycle. It is not uncommon for people to develop blood sugar problems following a stressful event, or even a traumatic event. Why is that so? Chromium works with insulin, helping the cells to absorb and use glucose. Chromium deficiency has been known to produce increased insulin requirements. So, it’s a vicious cycle -stress depletes chromium, the cells can’t get the glucose they need so more insulin is required thereby increasing the blood sugar. In order to store insulin plenty of zinc is required as well.
Stress also depletes zinc status. Under-active adrenal glands (also due to stress) can create a relative deficiency of zinc (as zinc is found in the adrenal glands). So, another vicious cycle ensues. Stress depletes zinc, the adrenals need zinc and are bombarded by stress then can’t function in full because they are lacking a key nutrient imperative to their optimal function. We can have an increased need for stress as well as an increased loss of the mineral -all due to stress! Another thing to point out about zinc and stress is actually digestion. Since digestion can’t take place when the body is in sympathetic mode, eating during stress will be compromised. We need zinc to make adequate hydrochloric acid to properly pull our minerals from our food to begin with.
Sheldon Cohen, professor of psychology at the university’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said prolonged stress alters the effectiveness of cortisol to regulate the inflammatory response because it decreases tissue sensitivity to the hormone.
Specifically, immune cells become insensitive to cortisol’s regulatory effect and in turn runaway inflammation is thought to promote the development and progression of many diseases.
He said: "Inflammation is partly regulated by the hormone cortisol and when cortisol is not allowed to serve this function, inflammation can get out of control."
Prof Cohen, whose early work showed that people suffering from psychological stress are more susceptible to developing colds, used the common cold as the model for testing his theory.
With the common cold symptoms are not caused by the virus. They are instead a side effect of the inflammatory response that is triggered as part of the body’s effort to fight infection.
The greater the body’s inflammatory response to the virus, the greater is the likelihood of experiencing the symptoms of a cold.
In Cohen’s first study 276 healthy adults completed an intensive stress interview and were then exposed to a virus that causes the common cold and monitored in quarantine for five days for signs of infection and illness.
It was found that experiencing a prolonged stressful event was associated with the inability of immune cells to respond to hormonal signals that normally regulate inflammation. In turn, those with the inability to regulate the inflammatory response were more likely to develop colds when exposed to the virus.
In the second study, 79 healthy participants were assessed for their ability to regulate the inflammatory response and then exposed to a cold virus and monitored for the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the chemical messengers that trigger inflammation.
Prof Cohen found that those who were less able to regulate the inflammatory response as assessed before being exposed to the virus produced more of these inflammation-inducing chemical messengers when they were infected.
He said: "The immune system’s ability to regulate inflammation predicts who will develop a cold, but more importantly it provides an explanation of how stress can promote disease
Como está escrito en el estudio publicado en el Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology:
“El estrés, que se define como una amenaza grave a la homeostasis, muestra tener efectos tanto a corto plazo como a largo plazo sobre las funciones del aparato digestivo…Los principales efectos que tiene el estrés sobre la fisiología del intestino incluye:
- Alteraciones en la motilidad gastrointestinal
Aumento en la percepción visceral
Cambios en la secreción gastrointestinal
Efectos negativos en la capacidad regenerativa de la mucosa gastrointestinal y el flujo sanguíneo de la mucosa
Efectos negativos sobre la microflora intestinal
Los mastocitos (MC) son importantes efectores del eje cerebro-intestino, que traducen las señales de estrés en la liberación de una amplia variedad de neurotransmisores y citoquinas proinflamatorias, que podrían afectar profundamente la psicología gastrointestinal.”