Ack, stress!
We all know what it feels like to be stressed out. Before a big presentation,
you might get sweaty palms and butterflies in your stomach.
"I ... think ... um." But let's say your stress is more constant. "Take 'em yourself!"
Like a toxic work environment that fills you with dread. Scientists are learning more and more
about how stress affects the body and it turns out that some stress might
actually be good for us. "We tend to think that stress is a bad thing, but actually
Types of stress
it really matters what type of stress we're under." Elissa studies how stress
affects the cells in our body and whether it can actually speed up the
aging process. There are basically two types of stress: chronic and acute.
Typically we experience bursts of acute stress. Let's say you're taking a big
test. Cortisol, the stress hormone, pumps into the bloodstream and extra oxygen
flows into your brain. Your heart beats faster and your palms get a little
sweaty. Once the test is over, your cortisol levels drop and your body goes
back to a more balanced state. Researchers found that small amounts of
The benefits of a little stress
acute stress is actually a good thing. "During that recovery from stress, all
sorts of processes happen in the cell that make us healthier." Your cells clean
up debris and produce special proteins, like what happens after you exercise.
This helps our cells stay young and healthy.
Chronic stress
Chronic stress on the other hand is a totally different story. This type of
stress is ongoing, like if you're constantly worried about paying the bills.
The body is in a constant state of
vigilance and this type of stress can be dangerous to your health.
Elissa studied a group of caregivers who are under the constant stress of caring
for a chronically ill child. She wanted to know if this stress made them age
faster. She teamed up with UCSF Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Blackburn to
study the caregives' cells — specifically their telomeres. Telomeres are the
Telomeres and aging
protective caps at the end of our chromosomes.
They protect our DNA from danger and naturally get shorter with time, so
they're a really good way to measure a person's health and age. But even though
they shorten over time, not everyone's telomeres shorten at the same speed. For
several years, the researchers measured the lengths of the the caregivers telomeres and
they found a direct correlation between the number of years spent caring for
their child and decreased telomere length. But when they took a closer look
at the data, they found that shorter telomeres weren't caused by how much
burden was in the caregivers life, but how stressed the caregiver felt. "It
wasn't being a caregiver per se that predicted one's telomere length, but
whether someone felt overly stressed by life." So the caregivers who felt
particularly high levels of stress from their life had significantly shorter
telomeres. These caregivers had what is known as a "threat response." That's when
Stress responses
you see stress as a danger to your well-being your body stays on high alert
and it takes a long time to get back to a regular state. Caregivers with longer,
healthier telomeres had a "challenge response" to stress. This means that you
see stress as an obstacle to be dealt with. You still have a spike at cortisol,
but you're able to recover from stress quickly. So the way you react to stress
matters a lot and sometimes just recognizing how you respond can help
alleviate stress. "We believe that a lot of stress that people carry around is
Should we avoid stress?
unconscious. So nothing might be happening and they might even say they
don't feel stressed, but their body has been conditioned to stay on high alert.
Their nervous system is vigilant. They're not in restorative mode. But when we
become aware of our thinking, aware of our thoughts and our typical responses,
we can actually take away the power they have over our body." Living a more healthy
life isn't about avoiding stress, it's about engaging with life by exposing
yourself to short-term stressors. "That's the spice of life and our body responds
to that by activating and recovering in a super healthy way." How do you deal with
stress? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check out our other video on
why the brain fixates on negative thoughts and what we can do
about it.