The Complete Doctor's Stress Solution: Understanding, Treating and Preventing Stress-Related Illnesses - Softcover

Kendall-Reed, Penny; Reed, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0778800962 ISBN 13: 9780778800965

Publisher: Robert Rose, 2004

Synopsis

Over 80 percent of all visits to primary healthcare practitioners are due to stress-related illness.

The Complete Doctor's Stress Solution is the first book to summarize the available scientific research linking stress to the development of a disease and to offer a unifying theory to explain how the hormonal effects of stress result in diverse health problems. Jargon-free text explains the impact of stress on the body and the mechanisms by which it influences health.

With worksheets and checklists throughout, the book is a guide to positive solutions to reduce stress. It includes:

• Personalized programs and therapies for specific conditions or diseases
• Comprehensive list of options from a home-based stress-reduction program that includes diet, exercise, relaxation techniques and other therapies
• Physical therapies including reflexology and massage
• Herbal supplements, counseling and prescription medication suggestions and recommendations
• Treatment strategies that are comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and provide plain language explanations of medical information and scientific research.

Changing one's lifestyle is a challenge and is often necessary to combat stress. Responding better to stress will reduce the harmful effects on well-being.

About this title

About the Author

Penny Kendall-Reed, BSc, ND is a naturopathic doctor specializing in weight loss reduction and health concerns. She appears regularly on ABC, NBC, CTV and Fox Network television and radio health shows.

Dr. Stephen C. Reed, BM, BCh, MA, MSc, FRCSC, is an orthopedic surgeon and a graduate of Oxford University Medical School.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

CASE STUDY: Not Good News

David rolls over and squints at the alarm clock through tired, blurry eyes. 2:15 am. Feeling too warm, he pushes the duvet to one side and rearranges the pillows to try and get comfortable. Attempting to relax and drift off to sleep once more, he tries to clear his mind of the rapidly invading thoughts: "What will I say at the breakfast meeting? Will I have time to get back for the conference call? Shall I get up early to go over the production figures? What about getting the kids off to day care? Then there's my doctor's appointment in the afternoon for my annual checkup:'

2:45 a.m. Now wide-awake, David is staring at the ceiling, the room lit by the glow of the city below the new condominium. He knows this oh-so frequent pattern will leave him exhausted for the day ahead, cloud his mind and judgment, with only endless cups of coffee keeping him from slumping over his desk mid-morning.

He turns to his wife Sue, "Are you awake?" "Yes," she replies. "I can't sleep with all your tossing and turning!' David gets another hour or two of sleep, but wakes up feeling tired, frustrated, and already looking forward to collapsing into bed the following night

Now up for the day, David stands in front of the full-length bathroom mirror. Inhaling deeply, he sucks in the flesh creeping over the top of his underwear. He breathes out and lets gravity take control of his '1-pack' once more. Only 35 years old, the flat stomach and athletic legs toned during years of football are already a distant memory. David still manages to grab a quick 30 minutes at the gym during lunch, but no amount of crunches, squats, or bench presses seem to slow the loss of muscle tone. Since the birth of his two children, he's had to put an end to the leisurely 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. workout and sauna. Weekends at the new cottage mean a long drive though ever-worsening traffic for the two days of 'rejuvenation', invariably fixing a broken pipe or planting a new tree.

Later that day... Dr. Jones looks up over gold bifocals and shuffles through David's lab results. "Not good news, I'm afraid. Blood pressure is up, cholesterol is high, and you are borderline diabetic!' David's eyes widen. A wife, two children, two mortgages. He is scared. His stress response kicks into gear again. His condition only gets worse

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WHO DOESN'T HAVE STRESS? We all have it, right? Yes! Stress is necessary for our survival. It's perfectly natural, a part of being human. "Complete freedom from stress is death," Dr. Hans Selye commented in his pioneering research into the effects of stress on our health. But too much stress -- or stress that isn't properly managed -- contributes to disease conditions that can lead to our death.

Our response to stress is necessary for our survival. Our bodies are designed to react quickly to stressful situations, either to fend off or flee from danger. This is called the fight-or-flight response. This specific reaction takes place every single time our body senses stress of any kind. It doesn't matter whether the stressful situation is real or perceived, physical or psychological, once our brain interprets a situation as stressful, the reaction is the same. The glands responsible for producing stress hormones can't differentiate between the stress of a wedding or a funeral. They will react in a similar manner to a physical threat, increased workload at the office, financial difficulty, or a relationship problem. Whatever the stressor, the reaction is the same -- the fight-or-flight response.

Caveman vs. Downtown Man

You're probably familiar with the scenario typically used to teach the principles of stress. A prehistoric 'caveman' meanders along, minding his own business, wondering whether to wear the bison or the bearskin loincloth for dinner, when a sabre-toothed tiger leaps out of the bushes. The fight-or-flight mechanism is activated. Adrenaline kicks in, causing the caveman's pupils to dilate, heart and breathing rate to jump, skin to go cold, and hair to stand up. Muscles twitch in anticipation of the next move. Senses are heightened.

The caveman throws a rock (fight), then jumps quickly into a gully (flight), running as fast as he can, powered by the surge of energy from increased levels of blood sugar. By now, cortisol, the major stress hormone, is beginning to rise, supporting the initial adrenaline rush to permit a prolonged reaction to the inherent danger. Cortisol is more potent and longer-lasting than adrenaline, with profound effects at the cellular level.

In just moments, the threat is over. The tiger has stopped pursuing the man, distracted by a passing rabbit, which proves to be a more accessible prey. With a sigh of relief, the danger now past and his cave in sight, the caveman's alarm system turns off. The stress hormones stabilize his body before switching off and returning to normal levels. The fight-or-flight mechanism has worked, enabling survival in the face of danger and restoring his life to normal with no ill effects -- apart from a battered prehistoric ego!

Now, several thousands of years later, 'downtown man', tired from a sleepless night, has already battled with what he perceives as the first stressful situation of the day -- whether to wear the Armani or Prada power suit to the corporate merger presentation -- and is now sitting in traffic, 15 minutes late for work. His mobile phone rings. It's his boss, informing him that if he's late, he might as well not show up at all. No one to fight, nowhere to flee. Reaching to put the phone down, he knocks his coffee over the presentation sheets on the passenger seat. The traffic hasn't moved an inch. Despite the fact that none of this is anywhere near as dangerous as confronting a sabre-toothed tiger, he perceives it as a threat to his employment and his ego. His brain is programmed to interpret such situations as stress.

The primitive areas of the brain and associated hormone reactions involved in the response to stress have not changed much since caveman's loincloth days. The fight-or-flight mechanism kicks into action. The cascade of adrenaline begins in response, followed by longer-lasting cortisol, raising heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing levels. Downtown man sweats, honks the horn, feels rage. He no longer thinks clearly, awash in a recurring cycle of stress hormones.

Unlike the caveman's stress, downtown man's situation does not resolve quickly, and when it does, it is rapidly replaced by another. The stress reaction continually battles to restore the normal biological balance of his body to a 'safe' condition but does not succeed. Eventually, his general health may begin to suffer.

Acute Stress Response Cascade

• Brain perceives danger or threat.
• Sympathetic nervous system initiates fight-or-flight response.
• Heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and breathing levels increase.
• Adrenaline supports sympathetic system short term.
• Cortisol sustains fight-or-flight response.
• Once the danger or threat is resolved, the body stabilizes.

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Acute Stress Response

The stress response involves a series of events designed to promote survival in a threatening or harmful situation. In its simplest terms, it works like this. The brain interprets incoming information (sight, sound, smell, touch, etc.) and decides that the body is in danger. Almost instantly, the activity of one of the body's automatic nervous systems (the sympathetic nervous system) increases. These nerves transmit impulses to most organs and tissues in the body so that within seconds, the fight-or-flight response is initiated. This sympathetic system is powered by adrenaline released from the nerve endings and is backed up by rapid release of large additional amounts of adrenaline into the bloodstream by the adrenal glands. The s

Edition details

• Publisher: Robert Rose
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0778800962
• ISBN 13: 9780778800965
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288