Psychological stress is damaging your body. Try these tips to find some stress relief

Stress is one thing that seems both certain and predictable.

Every generation goes through periods of extreme stress, and there's some argument out there about which era was most stressful. Was it fighting the Civil War, World War I, the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cuban missile crisis, the COVIDpandemic, etc. The list goes on and on. Each of these examples imposed extreme stress on us as a populace, but my sense is that stress today has reached a whole new level.

That's not to say that the experience of World War II was less stressful than what we have today. Not at all. But back then, we didn’t have social media blasting us from every direction all day long, and a variety of TV news channels, each with its own bias and selfish agenda. Can you imagine the increased stress of experiencing any past major crisis with relentless play-by-play reports, often with a slanted agenda (on either side)?

Unfortunately, it's the only world we have, and we must make the best of it. To make things better, we need to understand how damaging stress is to our health, and how we can best cope.

Ironically, step one is accepting that we are under stress, but that's not as easy as it sounds. It's like asking a fish "How is the water?" The fish replies, "What water?" This is because being totally and constantly immersed in water is natural and what life is all about for the fish.

You may likeWhat is high-fructose corn syrup and why is it bad for you? Here are 4 things to know

Similarly, when stress is chronic, it becomes a way of life, the norm, and you cease to recognize it. Herein lies the problem. Ignoring stress is like living in a house full of mold or being exposed to radiation. You can't see it or touch it, but it's damaging to health in many ways. So here's what to know about how stress impacts our health and tips on what to do to minimize that impact.

The effects of stress on your body

Stress should be taken seriously, but because it is amorphous, fluid, vague, and often difficult to quantify, most doctors shy away from discussing it with patients. For example, one person may perceive a situation to be highly stressful, while another is quite comfortable with it. What's more, if stress causes physical symptoms, like increased blood pressure, high blood pressure is recognized as the problem while stress, the underlying cause, is ignored.

Another stress-related problem that is often undetected is increased inflammation. Inflammation is intended to be a helpful response to fight infection and aid healing from an injury. But when inflammation is chronic, it creates major problems, like promoting the clogging of arteries (atherosclerosis), the underlying cause of the vast majority of heart attacks. It also can cause unregulated cell growth, increasing the risk of cancer, and it may be a factor in inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

What are telomeres?

Recent research evidence suggests that stress can not only make you ill, but it also can shorten your life. Scientists have discovered a key factor related to aging called telomeres. Inside the cells are chromosomes that contain DNA, our individualized genetic code. Recently, it was discovered that chromosomes have a protective cap (telomeres) on the ends, and when the cap wears down, chromosomes become vulnerable to damage.

To understand the importance of this, you must understand that the cells of the body are in a very dynamic state. In other words, you are not born with a group of cells that you carry with you for the rest of your life. On the contrary, cells have a lifespan and when they die, they need to be replaced by new cells. For example, red blood cells live about 120 days.

You may likeWhy diet soda is bad for you and not the answer if you're looking for quick weight loss

When new cells are made, it is critical that they be made with strict adherence to exactly replicating the DNA within each chromosome of the original cell. Deviations can create havoc in the body and lead to serious problems. This brings us to the role of telomere caps which provide a margin of error in the DNA replication process, and the longer the telomeres the better.

Unfortunately, as we age, telomeres wear down, but the rate varies greatly. Some folks in their 90s are spry and highly active, while folks who are decades younger appear to be much older. Are healthy telomeres the answer? Hard to say at this point, and more research is needed, but all indications are that telomeres are important.

When preserving telomeres, genetics are a factor, as is one's overall lifestyle. This usually is interpreted as including a healthy diet, exercise, weight management, etc., and stress is often overlooked. Increasingly, scientists are pointing a finger at stress, as studies on long-term caretakers reported that the greater the stress and the longer it has been ongoing, the more the telomeres were worn down.

Try these stress management techniques

What, if anything, can be done to better maintain the proper length of telomeres? An obvious answer is a healthier lifestyle that includes reduced stress. There is a lot you can do to reduce stress like adopting new ways of doing things and developing better time management skills, plus recognizing where stress comes from and taking steps to avoid it. In addition, prayer, meditation, and living mindfully in the moment and not dragging the past around with you or fretting about the future can work wonders.

And, of course, exercise.

When it comes to reducing stress, exercise is in its own special category. When I'm stressed, a vigorous bout of exercise brings improved perspective and knocks it right out. In addition, regular exercise promotes good health, and if trouble arises from stress, the healthier you are the better you will cope and the less health damage you will experience. This means less damage to telomeres. All things considered, regular exercise may be the best preventive medicine when it comes to stress.

Reach Bryant Stamford, a professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at stamford@hanover.edu.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Tips for stress relief as psychological stress is damaging your body