Exorcising Stress From Your Life

If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.
-Winston Churchill

Point number one: "Work-related stress can kill, study finds"

Point number one again: "The team conducted seven surveys over a 12-year period and found chronically stressed workers -- people determined to be under severe pressure in the first two of the surveys -- had a 68 percent higher risk of developing heart disease."

Point number one a third time: "Stressed workers eat unhealthy food, smoke, drink and skip exercise -- all behaviors linked to heart disease...stressed workers also had lowered heart rate variability -- a sign of a poorly-functioning weak heart -- and higher-than-normal levels of cortisol, a "stress" hormone that provides a burst of energy for a fight-or-flight response. Too much cortisol circulating in the blood stream can damage blood vessels and the heart."

If you are stressed out at work, please keep in mind the fact that you may be increasing your chances of a heart attack. How you reduce the effects of stress on your body is up to you, but if you're so inclined, try this piece of advice from Peter Kokkinos, director of the Exercise Testing and Research Lab at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington:

Older men who were classified as "highly fit" died at half the rate of those who were not fit in a major long-term study, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday. The study of more than 15,000 U.S. military veterans is one of the largest yet to show that exercise extends lives regardless of race or income.

I can't emphasize enough the salutary effects of regular exercise. Now get out there and boogie!

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Or, in other words "moderate stress is not shown to be bad". And, "High-stress jobs will give you bad lifestyle habits if you're not careful and those habits are bad for you. Make a point of avoiding them."

How much of the danger is actually from the bad habits picked up, and how much from the stressful job itself? And it talks about "severe pressure" - what about "moderate pressure"?

Oh great. As if I wasn't stressed enough, now you go and tell me that my stress might be killing me. Thanks a lot - that really helps. God, I could use a drink and a cigarette...

Oh great. As if I wasn't stressed enough, now you go and tell me that my stress might be killing me. Thanks a lot - that really helps. God, I could use a drink and a cigarette...

Posted by: Dunc | January 23, 2008 6:30 AM

LOL! I think this advice is so important that I actually write down to exercise on my weekly schedule and make sure not to scratch it off until it is done. The internal health benefits are great but you can also feel your stress levels going down and energy levels going up over time.
Dave Briggs :~)