Stress and The Body

by Dr. Zach Walker

Stress isn’t a new idea for anyone of us; however how • Constantly fatigued much do we really know about stress and what it • Hold onto adipose tissue (fat) more does to the body? Stress actually isnt bad for the • Trouble concentrating body, it is stress that we cannot handle or unwanted stress • Aches/pain that may affect us negatively. We are constantly putting • Inability to sleep stress on our bodies. This can be in the form of eating when • Concentration issues the body has to produce different hormones, excite different • Even sexual dysfunction(s) occur organs/glands, and produce energy to breakdown the food. These may describe you or someone you know. These It can also be when we are working-out when sweat glands are individuals that haven’t done anything new, working have to work more and the cardiovascular system has to out more or hard a major injury, but a lot of these symptoms respond to what we are doing. Everyday stress can be good, but what happens if we cannot handle everyday stress, or unwanted stress creeps up in our lives?

On the most basic level when the body comes in contact when a particular stress it will try to maintain homeostasis ( balancing the body where it naturally should be). This is where the different body systems come in and do there job(s), from producing different hormones (cortisol, cortisone, epinephrine, etc) to activating cardiovascular or immunological systems. The key issue to remember is that the BRAIN is responsible for every single one of these interactions! If the brain cannot handle the stressor it will immediately start having issues with breathing, producing more hormones then there should be, increase hear rate, etc. We need to make seem to just come on instantly. It may feel like this, but I can sure that we are taking care of our brain and nervous system. promise you that the body has been trying to tell you that Yoga, breathing exercises, chiropractic neurology, massage, it is feeling run down but you may not have been listening. Tai-Chi, acupuncture, food intake, exercising, and just talking This is why the above mentioned modalities may help and laughing with loved ones are just some tools that can be because they may be relaxing muscles, helping with letting used to help return to homeostasis. go of the stressors, or targeting the brain in a way that is

Chronic stress that the body cannot handle is what we allowing it to get back to homeostasis. Make sure you are really do not like. This is when, just like described above, taking care of your brain, so it can do the same for you! different body systems work over time and can experience the following: • Feel drained 34 // July 2020 • Run down About The Author Dr. Zach Walker is a chiropractic neurologist in the Ringgold, Georgia, area. He utilizes a chiropractic brain-based module to help his patients. He is the owner of BrainSpineConnection.