How Stress Impacts Your Health!
We recently spent a weekend filming a seminar hosted by Dr. Kathy Campbell, Dr. of Pharmacy and owner of Medicap Pharmacy in Owasso, Oklahoma, founder of Dr. Kathy Health and member of the Hometown Pharmacy Science Team. We left feeling empowered, enlightened and so many things we couldn’t put a finger on. The education shared during this three hour seminar had us thinking about it and talking about it for days. The most inspiring part of the weekend was the number of patients in the pharmacy that talked about how this one pharmacist had changed their lives; patients that were just SO thankful for Dr. Kathy’s help and education that they wanted to share it with whomever would listen.
In this seminar, Dr. Kathy discussed all things health, but really focused on hormones and weight loss and how they are interrelated and without balanced hormones, the weight will continue to be a problem and will increase as we get older.
Of course, cortisol is a hormone and although some is a good thing, it is the “fight or flight” hormone and when your body is in a constant state of survival mode that is commonly related to stress, it can lead to chronic disease. High cortisol levels can be a result of many things from stress at work, at home, stress from working out too strenuously, a recent injury, an old injury - neither of which have been addressed, pain (headaches, joint pain, back pain) and even stress from childhood events that have resulted in chronic stress on your body
Dr. Kathy discussed the impact of unresolved stress on our health and on weight loss. She talked about the A.C.E. score and how it impacts chronic health. We hadn’t heard of this and for those of you who haven’t heard of this acronym it means Adverse Childhood Experiences. It is a test that you take that scores from 0-10. The questions asked are regarding adverse events that you experienced before you were 18 and the higher your score, the more adverse experiences you have had and the more likely you are to experience chronic health problems as an adult. Studies have indicated that some health conditions that result from higher A.C.E.s scores are heart conditions, depression, COPD, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity and more.
WOW. This was an eye-opener, so, of course we found a site that offered the confidential A.C.E. test, took it and found out more about childhood trauma. One thing we discovered is this - as health practitioners, we definitely need to be more aware of the effects of childhood trauma on health, of how we can recognize children who are experiencing emotional and physical abuse and neglect or trauma and ways we can help. For more information on A.C.E. visit the CDC website Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
Children and teens can experience other levels of stress and trauma that also have an impact on their health and well-being. Some examples are bullying, being called fat or chubby, being made fun of for not being athletic or being a nerd, or being too smart, too tall, too short, not fast or too slow, being injured as a child or teen and not completely healing, having a learning disability and the list goes on. This can come from parents, teachers, classmates, boyfriends, girlfriends - I’m sure all of us can relate to this and have had our own experiences that have impacted our friendships, relationships, confidence, every day choices as an adult and our health. Adults can experience these same things as well and it can have an affect on their health, even though they didn’t experience it in childhood.
Increased cortisol or stress levels don’t have to come from emotional trauma. One example that really hit home was a patient of Dr. Kathy’s that had joined her weight loss program. She was doing all of the right things nutritionally and couldn’t lose the weight. When asked if she was sleeping, the patient revealed that she had been experiencing low back pain since she had been in an accident many years ago, so had not slept well in years. Her body had been compensating for this pain and it was stressed as well. Dr. Kathy recommended a chiropractor, the patient went, her injury was resolved and she was pain free. She was then able to sleep and also lose the weight and reach her goal. Crazy right? Maybe this sounds too easy, but there are so many examples so similar to this one.
The AHA moment here for us was that unresolved stress causes chronic disease.
How many of us have had joint pain, back pain, headaches, an inability to sleep - that we have just chalked up as part of growing old or “just the way it is?” It doesn’t have to be!! Get to the root of the “why” and let’s try to resolve it!
Effects of unresolved stress on the body:
So, what can we do to help resolve some of the stresses of everyday life (past and present) on our body?
How to Resolve Stress on our Body:
1. Journaling - sometimes by writing down feelings and events in our life it helps us “let go” of the negative effects that they have had on our lives and health.
2. Talk about it - talk to a health professional - counselor, therapist, nutritionist. Get to the root cause of the stress - whether it is pain, depression, weight - find out “why” and it will be easier to figure out “how” to resolve it. It may be a visit to a chiropractor or acupuncturist or massage therapist. It might involve trying something new like tapping, grounding or dry needling. You may have to experiment a bit with this!
3. Get Outside - Experience nature, walk, breathe to reduce stress
4. Meditation and Relaxation - The most important thing about meditation is learning to breathe. Inhaling and exhaling might be an automatic bodily function, however a lot of people find it difficult to do correctly when it comes to relaxation. When we are stressed and anxious our breathing is shallow and rapid which sometimes leads to dizziness or feeling lightheaded. A great app to help with Meditation is Calm - The #1 App for Meditation and Sleep.
5. Yoga is another way to relieve stress - especially Restorative Yoga. This is an excellent article about the healing effects of restorative yoga. Restorative Yoga: Healing Through Stillness - Yoga Medicine
6. Acceptance and Forgiveness - Acceptance of who you are, what you have been through and how you have struggled and survived and how your experiences have helped mold you, made you stronger, made you more empathetic and able to help others is important in letting go of stress. Forgiving those who have caused you pain and trauma is also key as holding on to that anger and fear is not accomplishing anything but increasing stress.
7. Movement - Being physically active is beneficial to health and can improve a person’s mood. Intense exercise can, however, trigger an increase in cortisol levels, as this is the body’s way of coping with the additional stress that the exercise places upon it. The appropriate amount of exercise depends on various factors, including a person’s physical fitness, and these factors play a part in how much cortisol the body will release during exercise.
8. Laugh and Have Some Fun!! - It is hard to be stressed when you are having fun. Laughter may lower cortisol levels as well as blood pressure.
9. Positive Relationships with Family, Friends and Coworkers - studies have shown that positive relationships and connections reduce stress and cortisol levels in both children and adults.
10. Sleep - Sleep deprivation can lead to increased levels of cortisol in the bloodstream, so making sure you get enough sleep and good quality sleep is important.
Some Information taken from 13 proven natural ways to lower cortisol - Medical News Today
SO much information to digest and put into practice!! This was just the tip of the iceberg.
The bottom line is that Independent PHARMACISTS ARE GOLD!! They are a wealth of information and most are available every day to discuss your health concerns, educate you on how to achieve health and feel better! You don’t need an appointment for a quick chat about your health, you can just walk in or talk to them when you are picking up your medications or other pharmacy needs, they work with your doctors and they are HAPPY to help you! They want to get to the root cause of disease, help you to reduce the medications you are taking or help you get off medications all together!
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