Let's Talk About Stress

a. What is the meaning of stress?
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way.But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.

b. Why we can get Stress?
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response

c. Cause Of Stress?
External Factor :

• Major life changes
• Work
• Relationship difficulties
• Financial problems
• Being too busy
• Children and family

Internal Factor :

• Inability to accept uncertainty
• Pessimism
• Negative self-talk
• Unrealistic expectations, perfectionism

d. Stress Symptom :

Cognitive Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms	Behavioral Symptoms
Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

e. What is effect cronic of stress?
The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off.

Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Many health problems are caused or exacerbated by stress, including:

Pain of any kind Heart disease Digestive problems Sleep problems

Depression Obesity Autoimmune diseases Skin conditions, such as eczem

d. How to manage the stress??

• 
• Alter the situation : manage your time better, be willing to compromise etc.

• Adapt to the stressor : reframe problem, focus on the positive etc.
  

• Accept the things you can’t change : share your feelings, learn to forgive etc.
  

• Make time for fun and relaxation : do something you enjoy every day, humorAdopt etc.
  

• A healthy lifestyle : Exercise regularly, reduce caffein & sugar etc.
  

Author : Melinda Smith, M.A., Ellen Jaffe-Gill, M.A., and Robert Segal, M.A

About Osteoporosis.......

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and loss of bone tissue that may lead to weak and fragile bones. In the United States, nearly 10 million people already have osteoporosis. Another 18 million people have low bone mass that places them at an increased risk for developing osteoporosis. As our population ages, these numbers will increase. About 80% of those with osteoporosis are women. Of people older than 50 years of age, one in two women and one in eight men are predicted to have an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime.

Cause Of Osteoporosis :
Osteoporosis occurs when there is an imbalance between new bone formation and old bone resorption. Two essential minerals for normal bone formation are calcium and phosphate. Throughout youth, the body uses these minerals to produce bones. Usually, the loss of bone occurs over an extended period of years. Often, a person will sustain a fracture before becoming aware that the disease is present. he leading cause of osteoporosis is a lack of certain hormones, particularly estrogen in women and androgen in men. Women, especially those older than 60 years of age, are frequently diagnosed with the disease. Menopause is accompanied by lower estrogen levels and increases a woman's risk for osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis Symptom
Early in the course of the disease, osteoporosis may cause no symptoms. Later, it may cause dull pain in the bones or muscles, particularly low back pain or neck pain. Later in the course of the disease, sharp pains may come on suddenly. The pain may not radiate (spread to other areas); it may be made worse by activity that puts weight on the area, may be accompanied by tenderness, and generally begins to subside in one week. Pain may linger more than three months.

Prevention

Building strong bones during childhood and adolescence can be the best defense against developing osteoporosis later. The average woman has acquired 98% of her skeletal mass by 30 years of age.

There are four steps to prevent osteoporosis. No one step alone is enough to prevent osteoporosis.

• Eat a balanced diet rich in calcium and vitamin D.
• Engage in weight-bearing exercise.
• Adopt a healthy lifestyle with no smoking or excessive alcohol intake.
• Take medication to improve bone density when appropriate.
• Participate in osteoporosis exercise with