But how bad is it for you, really? Can stress actually kill you?

From a biological perspective, stress makes perfect sense. If you're about to get chomped

on by a bear, your stress hormones better kick your butt into gear. But it turns out

that your mortgage, unemployment and looming exam all trigger the same stress response

in your body. And unlike most animals, which eventually experience a major decrease in

these hormones, humans can't seem to find the off switch! Even though it's not life

and death, our psychological woes consistently bath our bodies in these hormones, making

our heart pound, muscles tense and stomach turn.

In Japan, they have the term Karoshi, which literally translates to 'death from overwork'.

In what is now deemed an overworking epidemic, these individuals who are seemingly healthy

and in their prime, suddenly die. After being officially recognized and documented in Japan,

these sudden heart attacks and strokes were quickly linked to stress. But, how does stress

cause this?

Cortisol is one of the main stress hormones, which helps divert energy to where you need

it and away from nonessential functions of the body. But with chronic stress exposure,

problems arise: The immune system shuts down, inflammation is inhibited, white blood cells

are reduced, and susceptibility to disease increases. Some evidence also suggests that

prolonged stress may be involved in the development of cancer.

When looking at the arteries of macaque monkeys, those under significant stress have more clogged

arteries. This prevents blood from getting to the heart quickly during stress, and can

ultimately lead to heart attacks.

The brain also takes a toll; when looking at mice exposed to stress, we see dramatically

smaller brain cells, with fewer branch extensions than normal mice. This is particularly prevalent

in the area associated with memory and learning. Which may stir up some memories for you of

those wonderful all night study sessions; the acute stress and sleep deprivation can

make it increasingly difficult to remember things we want to.

Perhaps the most telling story is in our DNA. We contain something called telomeres on the

ends of our chromosomes, which decrease in size with age. Our video on "Aging", here,

explains this process. Eventually, the telomeres run out, at which point the cell stops duplicating

and dies. So telomeres are directly related to aging and length of life. And it turns

out, stress may actually accelerate the shortening of these telomeres.

But not all hope is lost for the perpetually stressed. Another hormone, oxytocin, has been

shown to reduce this stress response. It helps your blood vessels relax, and even regenerates

the heart from stress related damage. So how do we get more Oxytocin? It's sometimes dubbed

the 'cuddle hormone', because it's released during positive social interactions and while

caring for others. People who spend more time with others create a buffer or resilience

to stress.

So when life gets the best of you, just remember, you don't have to go it alone. Spend some

time with those you love - it may just save your life!

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