Anatomy Shared Article Research

This blog exists for the Anatomy students at Tree of Life Christian School. We will be reading various scientific articles, summarizing our research, and then commenting on others' summaries. We hope to broaden our view of the current research surrounding the human body, and to help others see how truly amazing the design of the human body is.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Head Attack

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=head-attack

Summary:
Many patients who enter a hospital with a suspected heart attack have experienced the effects the mind can have on the body. Although these patients felt the same symptoms as a heart attack, a physical cause will not be found. The cause is psychosomatic; however, that does not make them insignificant. There could be many causes for these physical attacks, but the one that stands out is stress. Studies show that every year in the U.S. 1.5 million people have heart attacks, and for more than 200,000, it results in death. It is unclear how many of these are related to stress; however, in a study of how people were feeling and what they were doing soon before a heart attack, a very common factor was emotional stress.
Stress has a great effect on the physical body. When the brain senses danger, it causes the body to prepare for a "fight of flight" reaction. The heart pumps harder and faster and blood vessels constrict. This is a good temporary reaction, and it protects us in dangerous situations. When this happens on a daily basis, however, it can have damaging effects. Everyday events, such as runnning late, can cause our bodies to remain under constant stress. This causes our bodies to "keep working in overdrive", which can lead to problems such as hypertension, arrythmia (irregular heartbeat), or a heart attack.
The method in which a person handles problems can influence that person's risk of a heart attack. Individuals who are typically ambitious, competitive, and impatient are known as having a "Type A personality." These individuals are at a higher risk for having heart attacks than those who do not have those traits. This information was gathered from a study done by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman of people with Type A personalities. Having a Type A personality does not necessarily increase an individual's lifetime risk, but it increases the likelihood that he will have one soon. Another study done by Bruce C. Jonas and James F. Lando shows that strong emotions, such as anger and depression, also increase the risk of a heart attack.
According to multiple studies, the human mind can highly impact the heart. James A. Blumenthal suggests that relaxation techniques are helpful and can reduce the risk of a heart attack. Another good method is "cognitive behavioral therapy." This is when people concentrate on positive events more than negative events. Relationships are also important in reducing stress levels. Other people can help minimize stress. Two other ways to reduce stress are eating healthy foods and exercising on a regular basis. Both have been proven to improve the stress levels of individuals. Through different studies, specialists have shown that as much as physical health can affect our state of mind, our thoughts and emotions can have a powerful effect on our bodies.


My Reaction:
I have definitely experienced some of the effects stress can have on the physical body. I think it's important that we pay attention to the amount of stress in our lives so we can work on reducing it, therefore lowering the risk of health problems, such as a heart attack. Understanding the significance of stress could potentially prevent many people from having a heart attack, because we can learn techniques to help reduce our stress levels. I hope that as more research is done, more treatments can be found that will help more people live longer, healthier lives.

2 Comments:

Blogger Krista Belter said...

I have heard of the expression "worry yourself sick" or "worry yourself to death," but I didn't know if they were actually true. This article and Sarah's have helped me see that it is actually possible to kill yourself from worry. Of course, hopefully it'll never happen to anyone, but unfortunately it does on the occasion. It's nice to know that there are ways someone can relax themselves before anything drastic happens.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:33:00 PM  
Blogger sarahjihyeonkim said...

After I read this article, I started worried about my heart and boby because of the stress. I get stress every single day and everything that around me became my stress. I did know the stress is bad for body and makes heart problems but I didnot know how much it affeck and how bad it is.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009 8:54:00 PM  

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