Your body's reaction to stress may raise your odds of developing high cholesterol.
Chronic Stress and Heart Disease
A new study has shown that middle-aged adults, if their cholesterol rose in response to a stressful task, were more likely to develop high cholesterol years later. Several studies have shown a connection between chronic stress and heart disease; it's possible that stress-related cholesterol changes may contribute to this.
Three-Year Study
Researchers tracked almost 200 middle-aged adults. At the start of the study, participants performed stressful tasks, and their blood cholesterol was measured before and after. Three years later, their blood cholesterol was measured again. Those who had the greatest cholesterol response to stress were also the most likely to have high cholesterol.
13 Times More Likely
It was determined that:
Modifying Response with Stress Management
Changes in metabolism in response to stress may ultimately cause the liver to boost production of LDL particles. Stress can also temporarily limit the body's clearance of cholesterol from the blood.
It's possible that such effects could be modified if people changed their conscious responses using stress management techniques.
An inability to handle stress can be devastating to your health in so many ways, as it can:
However, don't get all bent out of shape about high cholesterol as most people, and most physicians, are clueless to the fact that cholesterol is not the cause of most heart disease. Your cholesterol being elevated from stress may actually be an adaptive protective response and lowering it with a statin drug may be one of the worst things you can do for your health.
Yes folks, it is far better to treat the cause of the disease than to throw expensive and potentially toxic Band-Aid drugs at it.
If you read this newsletter regularly, you know one of my favorite topics to write about is the undeniable link between your physical and emotional health. This study is yet another great example of the connection between stress and disease. In nearly all of the patients I see, stress is a key factor in the cause of their illnesses.
The trick about stress, folks, is learning how to handle it, because you can never eliminate it, nor would you want to. One of the more effective methods I know of for managing stress is the energy psychology tool, Emotional Freedom Technique -- it isn't a useless drug or medical procedure.
It's a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles, that I use daily in my practice.
You can also review the five simple strategies to reducing stress article I previously wrote.
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