Stress and Cardiovascular Disease|60SecMotivation|MindBody Breakthrough
Stress is a natural bodily response to a perceived threat. There are three types of stress; beneficial, tolerable and toxic. A reasonable amount of acute stress (mild and brief) can be beneficial and promote greater cognitive and immune system functions. However, toxic stress (traumatic and prolonged) are the biggest risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Depending on the severity of your negative life experiences, it is possible to leave your stress response in the ‘ON’ position for too long. When the nervous system starts to have trouble turning off your stress hormones, cardiovascular disease, among others, may become inevitable.
Elevated levels of stress hormones can raise the blood pressure so high that the resulting blood turbulence starts to damage the arterial walls and junctions, causing platelet plaques to aggregate inside tiny blood arteries, vessels and capillaries. The clogging of the blood vessels may eventually block the blood flow to the heart muscle, leading to partial or complete myocardial infarction or ischaemia. Your greatest defence against heart disease, therefore, could be learning to turn off your stress hormones and organically maintain optimal blood pressure on a DAILY BASIS. Here is why and how in 60 seconds.
