American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [12]
A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. You are considered underweight if your BMI is less than 18.5, overweight if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, and obese if your BMI is 30 or higher. The risks are even higher in men whose waist is larger than 40 inches and in women whose waist is larger than 35 inches.
Body Mass Index
Stress
Stress affects everybody, but some people react to it more strongly than others. When you experience stress, your body makes two hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, that help you deal with the tense situation. Over the long term, however, too much of these hormones produced for too long can cause anxiety and physical symptoms that can trigger or worsen illnesses such as high blood pressure, asthma, or heart disease. Persistent, prolonged stress can also adversely affect your immune system, making you more susceptible to infections and other illnesses.
A number of natural ways to reduce stress—such as deep breathing, yoga, meditation, biofeedback, exercise, and massage—have been proven to be effective. Try all of them until you find what works best for you. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (see page 710) provided by a mental health professional can also be helpful. If you feel overwhelmed by the stress in your life, talk with your doctor about effective stress-reduction methods (see page 58).
It’s Not All in Your Mind
Stress can affect your body in a number of ways. Chronic, long-term stress can be especially harmful. Learning how to manage your response to stress can help you avoid these damaging effects.
Hair
Some forms of baldness, such as alopecia areata, have been linked to stress.
Brain
Stress can trigger headaches and behavioral and emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. A persistent release of the stress hormone cortisol can kill brain cells directly, causing memory and learning problems.
Heart
Heaviness or pain in the chest (angina), rapid heartbeat, and abnormal heart rhythms can occur during or shortly after periods of stress.
Digestive tract
Stress can cause or worsen disorders or diseases of the digestive tract such as indigestion, peptic ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome. Severe stress can slow digestion.
Abdominal fat
Prolonged or severe stress can cause fat to be deposited at the waist rather than on the hips and buttocks, increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and other illnesses.
Bones
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol can cause bone loss.
Skin
Some people have outbreaks of skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis when they are under stress. Stress also can increase perspiration.
Mouth
Teeth grinding, mouth ulcers, and dry mouth seem to occur more often during times of stress.
Lungs
People with asthma often find that their condition worsens when they are under stress. Stress can also speed up breathing.
Bladder
Stress can trigger an urgent need to urinate.
Reproductive organs
Severe stress can suppress the reproductive system, causing absence of periods in women and erection problems and premature ejaculation in men.
Muscles
Minor muscular tics become more noticeable, especially on the face and hands, and muscles often become tense when a person is under stress.
Immune system
When a person is under stress, the immune system can become weakened, increasing the risk of infections and other illnesses.
Don’t Cheat on Sleep
When it comes to stress, sleep is like medicine, but sometimes you can get caught in a vicious circle. You can’t sleep because you feel stressed, and the lack of sleep causes more stress, which affects your sleep. Lacking sufficient sleep for a long period can have harmful effects on your mind and body. Lack of sleep can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, lower your resistance to illness, and raise your blood pressure—all important reasons to take sleep more seriously.
If you’re going through a high-stress period, one way to make sure