How Does Stress Affect Health?

The human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert and ready to avoid danger. Stress becomes negative when a person faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. As a result, the person becomes overworked, and stress-related tension builds.

Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress—a negative stress reaction. Distress can disturb the body’s internal balance or equilibrium—leading to physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases.
Stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs to try to relieve their stress. Unfortunately, instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause more problems. Consider the following facts:

• Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.

• Seventy-five to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
• Stress is linked to six of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.

How Stress Makes Us Old

It’s long been suspected that a difficult life can make people look old before their time. New research shows that stress actually does age us prematurely—right down to our DNA. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, studied the DNA of 39 women who had spent years caring for their chronically ill children. They specifically examined the women’s telomeres, which are pieces of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes and play a critical role in cell division. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres shorten; they therefore can serve as a marker of a cell’s biological age. The women with chronically ill children, the study found, had shorter telomeres than a group of women with healthy kids. The more stressed the woman, the greater the wear on her DNA. The difference was so dramatic that the researchers estimated that the cells of the highly stressed moms had undergone the equivalent of 10 years of additional aging compared to the low-stress group. “Older” cells, in turn, can be vulnerable to a host of diseases. “If we feel stress, it needs to be taken seriously,” Elissa Epel tells New Scientist. “It may be embodied at the cellular level.” —The Week, Dec. 17, 2004

References:
1. www.lifepositive.com
2. www.my.webmd.com
3. www.arthritis.about.com

Stress Management

The University of Washington, Department of Orthopedics, lists three components of a successful stress management program: learn how to reduce stress; learn how to accept what you cannot change; and learn how to overcome the harmful effects of stress.

Why Massage is Rejuvenating:

• Massage improves circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids. Increased blood flow brings fresh oxygen to body tissues.

• Increased oxygen flow eliminates waste products from inside the body, and enhances recovery from diseases.

• Therapeutic massage boosts circulatory and immune systems to benefit blood pressure, circulation, muscle tone, digestion, and skin tone. It also improves the performance of the lungs.

• As muscle tone improves, so do the nerves that connect them, including the spinal cord and the brain.

• Therapeutic massage can promote general well being, enhance confidence, and self-assuredness.

• Massage is an excellent relaxant that also increases health and well being.

Massage may prevent SIDS: pediatrician

With all my Pregnant MOM's out there I felt it was time to bring in some food for thought... We always need to stay up on the, what could, what would, education.


Danny Rose
February 9, 2010

AAP

Parents have a therapy at their fingertips that may offer their baby protection against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), an Australian pediatrician says.

Reducing a newborn's SIDS risk could be as simple as massaging them, said Associate Professor Graham Reynolds, as the practice was known to naturally boost a baby's serotonin levels.

His advice comes after a US-based, but Australian-led, study last week identified a common lack of the neurotransmitter among babies who had died from the mysterious syndrome.
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"Scientists have known for a long time that touch and skin-to-skin contact play a major role in the development of serotonin pathways in babies brains," said Dr Reynolds, who is Director of Paediatric Research at The Canberra Hospital and also patron of the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM).

"Now that a link between serotonin and SIDS has been established, more research is needed to find out whether infant massage may help further reduce the rates of SIDS, in conjunction with the Safe Sleeping Guidelines."

As well as playing a role in mood and behaviour, serotonin acts as a regulator of the body's basic life-sustaining functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, sleep cycles and respiration.

The Boston-based study last week suggested babies born with a lack of serotonin were at heightened risk of succumbing to environmental factors also known to contribute to SIDS.

These include sleeping in a position other than face-up and parental smoking during pregnancy, or in the home after birth.

Dr Reynolds said it was important to note there was not yet direct evidence linking infant massage to a reduced risk of SIDS, and that parents seeking to learn the technique should be trained by a Certified Infant Massage Instructor.

The IAIM (online at www.iaim.com.au) is a not-for-profit organisation that offers classes in infant massage to promote healthy bonds between children and parents or caregivers across the country.

"The other benefits of infant massage are so well documented in the scientific research that there is every reason for parents to learn the basics of infant massage," Dr Reynolds said.

"Studies ... show being massaged by a parent not only increases serotonin availability in a baby's brain, but that infant massage also reduces the baby's chance of developing depression, violent behaviours or other mental health difficulties later in life."

Public awareness campaigns on safe sleeping practices have lead to a decline in SIDS deaths though the syndrome still claims one in 2000 apparently healthy children.

For more information, visit www.sidsandkids.org.

© 2010 AAP

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/massage-may-prevent-sids-pediatrician-20100209-nnwa.html

Parents Urged to Get Hands-On to Prevent SIDS

The Ultimate Health Drink

One of the most common messages that massage therapists impart is: “Be sure to drink plenty of water!” Drinking adequate amounts of pure water is one of the simplest ways to help your body to be healthier! And what better time to do so than when the weather is hot! If you haven’t developed the water habit yet, read on to learn why you really should.

The following passages are excerpted from an online article written by S. Jhoanna Robledo:

“Health-care providers say water nourishes the entire body. ‘Water is a life-sustaining beverage,’ says Leslie Bonci, a registered dietician and author of The American Dietetic Association Guide to Better Digestion. ‘Every organ in the body needs water.’

“Keeping the GI tract in fine working order
For water to get where it’s needed, it must be absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. When you drink water, it travels quickly down the esophagus, through the stomach and into the intestines, where it’s partially diffused into the bloodstream, hydrating the body’s cells. The kidneys and the bladder make use of some of the water, and what’s left goes into the large intestine to move fecal matter.

“ ‘Water helps flush the system,’ says Dr. Donald F. Kirby, a gastroenterologist and chief of the nutrition section at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Va. When there aren’t enough fluids in the colon, patients suffer from constipation, a common gastrointestinal ailment.

“And one solution to constipation—eating a diet rich in fiber, which can be found in fruits, vegetables and whole grain—can’t work without adequate intake of fluids. ‘Fiber draws water from all sources in the body to make stools softer and easier to pass through,’ says Bonci.

“Water may also play a role in preventing colorectal cancer. The Mayo Clinic cites a study that showed that women who drank more than five glasses of water a day had a risk of colon cancer that was 45 percent less than that of those who drank two or fewer glasses a day.

“ ‘If you’re drinking enough fluids, you’re moving things more efficiently and quickly so toxins won’t be sitting in your gut for too long,’ says Bonci.”

CrossFit 2010 Games - Congratulation !!! Nathan and Team Vancouver, WA

Congratulations goes out to CrossFit Vancouver, WA Team and Nathan L.

First time at, 'The CrossFit Fittest On Earth Games 2010', in Carson, CA the weekend of July 16 - 18, 2010. Team CrossFit Vancouver, came home as the Champions.

What are the CrossFit Games?

The CrossFit Games are the ultimate test of fitness. It's a grueling three-day competition in which the world's fittest athletes compete in a variety of workouts. What are the workouts? Each year they change, and the details of them are not announced until a couple days before the event. This means that all year long, the athletes are training for a competition whose format is almost completely a mystery.

What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide.

Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing. Combat, survival, many sports, and life reward this kind of fitness and, on average, punish the specialist.

The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts. We scale load and intensity; we don’t change programs.

The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen. CrossFit Elite Fitness

Local CrossFit Groups

* Camas CrossFit
* Vancouver
Brass Ring CrossFit
The Workout CrossFit
CrossFit Fort Vancouver
Challenge Fitness CrossFit
CrossFit Epiphany

Drink the Water!

Water is a vital ingredient to good health. Unfortunately, far too many people just don’t drink enough water.

In her book Your Natural Health Makeover, naturopathic physician Dr. Lauri Aesoph gives the following reasons to include adequate pure water in your daily diet:

1) Water, (not soda or juice) makes up 70% of the adult body
2) Water helps clear the body of waste material
3) Water helps fight constipation and aids digestion
4) Water helps lubricate joints
5) Water aids cell function and is an important solvent in the body
6) Water vapor in the lungs helps control oxygen concentration there
7) Water helps control body temperature
8) Inadequate water intake may result in fatigue and general body aches
If you are one of those people who has a hard time drinking enough water, you can try this: Make a commitment to drink only water for several days. (You should be drinking about 8-10 eight ounce glasses every day.) Notice how you feel and what changes you experience. Hopefully you’ll be ready to continue making water your main source of liquid.

Most natural health authorities agree that you should avoid tap water and seek a source of pure water (like bottled or spring water).

It’s true that you should drink plenty of water following each massage session because your body is busy eliminating toxins. If you don’t get enough water, these toxins will stay in your system—often causing some physical discomfort—and you’ve lessened a major benefit of your massage.

Drinking enough water is one of the easiest and most important steps you can take to improve your health, so make it a priority!