Stress Health - Causes of Stress

It happened to our parents, our grandparents, and their parents before that, stress symptoms, and old age. Old age sneaks up on us and with it brings all kinds of unexpected health challenges. And because we've never known any different, most Americans believe that we have no choice but to accept chronic health problems as a normal part of the golden years, that we're going to face colds and flu more often, that allergies and arthritis will worsen, and that there really isn't anything we can do about it.

But now researchers are making groundbreaking discoveries teaching them that many "age-related" ailments actually have very little to do with growing old. Instead, stress health issues that often arise in our forties and continue to worsen as we grow older are more accurately associated with an age-related decline in immune function, not the overall aging process of the body. Why is this good news? Because scientists are no longer forced to search for a nonexistent "fountain of youth" but can instead focus their energies on stress health and the strengthening and enhancing of the immune system to win the battle against illness and disease. And we need to be aware early on what the symptoms of stress related disorders are.

Additional studies have more precisely explained immune system changes that begin for most of us around our fortieth birthday. Because of these new developments, scientists are more clearly able to understand why senior citizens suffer more often from colds, the flu, autoimmune disorders, cancer, diabetes, and other serious health problems. And, more importantly, how to avoid them. Which really means learning how to identify stress symptoms earlier in life and then how avoid the causes of stress!

Regardless of the other measures you take to insure your good health, if you haven't done enough to prevent your immune system from becoming overwhelmed, weakened, or compromised, your body doesn't stand a chance against disease. Your immune system can't fight off even the simplest cold virus, the tiniest infection-causing bacteria, or the slightest bit of tainted food. Disease will eventually win. No question.

Aging immunity means you may suffer more often and more severely than ever before
Under normal, healthy conditions, the macrophage cell is a proactive disease fighter and the first component of the immune system to challenge bacteria and viruses as they enter the body, eliminating potential disease long before symptoms can arise. Macrophage cells are naturally engineered to engulf invading pathogens, alert additional cells for a systemic response against illness-causing invaders, and cleanse the body of damaged and dead cells.

Unfortunately, as we age macrophage cell function begins a long and steady decline. They react far more slowly to invaders and require more time to eliminate each individual pathogen. They send fewer signal molecules that alert additional immune system cells of danger. They are also less successful in eliminating cancer cells and slower to initiate wound healing, cell repair, and cell regeneration.

And just as macrophage function begins to decline and more pressure is forced on other components of the immune system, yet another immunity-related challenge arises. B cells and T cells (important white blood cells responsible for a wide array of functions throughout the immune system) lose their ability to undergo rapid cell division. As a result, the immune system has trouble keeping up with the rate of cell division performed by bacteria and virus and the body is more quickly and easily overrun.