Chronic stress invites in disease? (YIKES!)

Americans report feeling more stressed today than after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

That’s likely because stressors now invade nearly every corner of our lives…

Finances, relationships, health—the list goes on.

Indeed, as I mentioned yesterday, stress has become so normalized in our culture, that many folks wear living with it as a badge of honor.

So, today, let’s continue exploring how ongoing stress might impact your disease risk…

Much higher risk

In a recent study, researchers found that living with chronic stress or depression could double your risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD)—compared to patients without chronic stress or depression.

And if you suffer from both chronic stress and depression, your AD risk skyrockets even further.

In fact, those patients face quadruple the AD risk!

This just solidifies why you should never just “accept” stress as a normal way of life.

As I have said a million times, we cannot change our age, family history, or genetics. But we CAN absolutely address modifiable risk factors.

Those include things like our nutrition, physical activity, cardiac health, and mental health (like stress and depression).

(And of course, keeping up with routine wellness exams and addressing dementia risk factors like traumatic brain injuries, should you ever suffer one.)

Lifestyle prescriptions are powerful

In another study published in the journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, findings corroborate the powerful role that lifestyle modifications can play in staving off, if not reversing, AD.

The lifestyle interventions in the analysis included:

• Daily aerobic exercise
• Smart supplementation (with a daily multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, coenzyme Q10, vitamins C and B12, magnesium, a daily probiotic, and lion’s mane mushroom)
• Attending regular support groups

Stress reduction techniques, such as meditation, yoga, stretching, progressive relaxation, breathing exercises, and imagery led by a certified stress management specialist, were also used.

At the end of just 20 weeks, researchers discovered improvement in cognition and cognitive function, as well as less disease progression.

In other words—and as I often tout—lifestyle factors make a HUGE difference in disease risk—especially when it comes to dementia.

It all tends to boil down to my three favorite recommendations: diet, supplementation, and physical activity.

One more thing…

To learn more about my stance on stress (and when it turns deadly), check out the current issue of my monthly newsletter, Logical Health Alternatives (“Feeling stuck in a ‘stress gridlock’”?). Just head to the “subscribers” tab of my website by clicking here.

Source:

“New research on how common stressors raise dementia risk.” MDLinx, 06/20/2024. (mdlinx.com/article/new-research-on-how-common-stressors-raise-dementia-risk/7KmsZjfFWQGRzU4ZUJSiS3)