Experts recommend not taking lightly the "common" discomforts such as insomnia as they would be alerting us of damage that could be lethal.
Contrary to what was thought, that stress was a condition at the mental level, experts recognize that it can cause severe damage to physical health.
“The issue is that the risks associated with this condition overflow the merely emotional – depression, anxiety or anguish – and end up manifesting itself with physical symptoms,” explains Rodrigo Córdoba, director of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rosario, Spain.
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Due to the chemicals that the body releases under stress levels, such as cortisol and adrenaline, it can affect the immune system, affects sperm production and causes erectile dysfunction or impotence. It also causes headaches, back and shoulders and other muscles. Stress also affects the digestive system causing heartburn, reflux, swelling or constipation; and even type 2 diabetes can develop.
According to specialized health sites “when it is excessive or not properly controlled, the consequences of stress can be some of the main causes of death: heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, accidents, liver cirrhosis and suicide.”
Specialists indicate that interpersonal relationships also affect raising stress levels. "The environment in work spaces, interpersonal relationships with bosses and colleagues, workloads, pressure and lack of optimal rest periods are the most frequent risk factors for this disease," said Juan Vicente Conde, a medical specialist and member of the Colombian Society of Occupational Medicine.
Deadly risks
Stress should also be considered as a risk factor for heart disease, almost as important as obesity or being overweight as it triggers the same chemical process in the body, specialists said.
During the International Symposium on Cardiovascular Protection that took place in Guadalajara (western Mexico), cardiologist Carlos Jerjes told Efe that although stress by itself does not cause a heart attack or coronary problem, it does not contribute to clogged arteries , yes it is a trigger for these problems to occur.
"That stress is not going to be the main factor, but naturally when it triggers it will produce alterations or activities of the central nervous system," said the director of the Institute of Cardiology and Vascular Medicine of the TecSalud program, at the Technological University of Monterrey.
The specialist explained that with stress the same pre-inflammatory cytokines that influence obesity and trigger smoking are triggered in the nervous system, "then it is added as a very important factor."
He added that cytokines are proteins that can generate inflammation that is directed at the blood vessels of the endothelium, which is the layer that lines the inside of the heart, and affect the functioning of this organ.
