Our body responds to stressful stimuli through nervous system and the release of hormone into the blood.
Of the nervous system, it is the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves that are of importance in a situation of stress.
Normally, it is parasympathetic nerves which regulate and control the functioning of our internal organs. But when we are under stress, it is the sympathetic nerves that take over. The sympathetic nerves release a chemical substance called adrenaline at their nerve ends in different organs. The effect of adrenaline is to prepare the body to fight stress.
The body returns to its normal condition once the emergency is over and we relax. The main problem occurs with the effects of stress over an extended period of time. During the period, the body remains in a state of vigilance and doesn’t relax, which it greatly requires. The body’s resistance to disease is weakened by this persistent physical and mental stress and as a result the body gets more prone to viruses and other diseases.
It was in 182.2, that a young man named Alexis St. Martin got injured in the abdomen when a gun being carried by one of his friends went off accidentally. A gaping hole about the size of a fist appeared in his abdomen and there seemed to be no chance of his survival. As luck would have it, he survived it with the help of a doctor named William Beaumont. But the gaping hole in his abdomen became a permanent feature. The outer wall of his abdomen and the inner wall of the stomach adhered together in the process of healing so that the food he took through his mouth could be seen being digested in his stomach.
Dr. William Beaumont helped this patient medically and financially. He was keen about retaining this patient with him so that he could make some direct observations on the process of digestion of food in his stomach.
Beaumont succeeded in making a total of 238 experimental observations and on the basis of that, he wrote a book which is now considered as a classic.
Beaumont observed that the innermost layer of an empty stomach looked pale-pink and velvety and was coated with mucus. As soon as the food was put in the mouth, this surface became more pink and bright in color and from beneath the mucus coating started oozing out hundreds of transparent droplets which collected in the stomach. When food reached the stomach, it contracted more often and more fluid appeared there which engulfed the food and started disintegrating it.
When Martin lost his temper during an experiment during an experiment with food, it took much larger time for the food to be digested. This was the first observation of the effects of emotion on the function of digestion.
Since then it was observed that digestive problems such as ulcers, constipation, and indigestion may arise due to stress. The blood vessels that constricted to enable us to respond to stress can go into spasm. This besides exhausting the body carries the risk of high BP and more serious health harms like heart disease.
Another big negative effect of stress is the way people treat their stresses. Many people have been seen to take serious medicines such as alcohol, nicotine, street drugs, prescription medicines, certain diet, etc. This action of their becomes a double edged sword and the cure gets worse than the cause. |
