Don't Let Stress Take a Toll on Your Brain

Learning how to manage the stresses of modern life can help you avoid or reverse negative brain effects and slow brain aging.

It's not your imagination--the level of stress in modern American life is mounting, and along with it, the toll of stress exacts on our brains.

An impressive 44 percent of Americans say their stress levels have increased in the past five years, and 22 percent say they suffered extreme stress in 2011, according to Stress in America: Our Health at Risk, a report based on a nationwide survey of 1,226 adults that was released by the American Psychological Association in January 2012. Yet, although science has uncovered ways to neutralize the effect of stress, few Americans avail themselves of stress-reduction strategies such as meditation or deep breathing exercises that have been proven to be effective, according to a Massachusetts General Hospital expert.

"We know now that we can learn ways to manage chronic or overwhelming stress, and we need to learn these strategies for the sake of our health," says Gregory Fricchione, MD, Director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine (BHI) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). "Stress is an increasingly serious problem in the U.S., and it contributes greatly to morbidity and mortality. Chronic or excessive stress characterized by abnormal levels of stress hormones such as cortisol can harm both the body and the brain. There's hardly anything more damaging to health-almost every major chronic disease has a stress component.

"At the same time, Americans are feeling anxious and less secure in many ways. Time urgency has become essentially institutionalized in our society, and economic uncertainty is rampant. It is increasingly impossible to escape stress in 21st century American life."

PROTECTING YOUR BRAIN

A moderate amount of stress helps us stay alert and operating at peak levels, Dr. Fricchione points out, but too much stress, sometimes referred to as distress, causes our performance to deteriorate. With prolonged or excessive stress, the brain works overtime trying to maintain normal function of the body's physiological systems, and eventually excessive metabolic wear and tear may lead to a condition called allostatic loading, which is characterized by an inefficient operation of the stress hormone response. This can have profoundly negative effects throughout the body, resulting in increased vulnerability to appetite disturbance and insomnia and to illnesses such as coronary artery disease and major depression.

The good news is that much of the damage that stress causes to the body and brain can be avoided or even reversed by learning to manage stress and engaging in stress-reducing activities that help promote health. Among Dr. Frecchione's recommendations for lowering stress-and benefiting the brain-are the following strategies:

• Learn a relaxation technique (such as yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, visualizing a peaceful scene, or tai chi) and try to use it daily to counteract the harmful effects of stress. "Through techniques such as these, you can achieve the relaxation response (RR)," explains Dr. Fricchione. "The RR is a state of deep rest characterized by lower respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen consumption that is powerful enough to affect the output of proteins on the genetic level. Research conducted at BHI suggests that evoking the RR for 30 minutes or so a day for just eight weeks changes gene activation in a healthy direction, and meditation can alter the brain's structure in key areas that can modulate stress. Eliciting the RR on a regular basis may therefore counter the harmful effects of long-term stress-inflammation, programmed cell death and oxidative stress from cell-damaging molecules called free radicals."
• Cultivate an optimistic attitude. Negative thinking habits and discouraging self-talk can lead to stressful feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and depression that can adversely affect health. Try to trade in your negative thinking for a more positive outlook to reduce the harmful effects of stress.
• Seek social support. Make it a priority to have regular contact with friends and loved ones. Studies show that people with poor social support are more vulnerable to the damaging effects of stress.
• Put others first. Helping others committing yourself to something larger than yourself, joining with others to work for a better future, and comparable forms of selflessness can lower your stress levels by helping you feel more positive about life.
• Exercise. A brisk workout of 30 minutes a day-if your doctor approves-can reduce stress, improve overall health, and promote the growth of new neurons in the brain.
• Eat healthily. A nutritionally balanced low-fat diet high in antioxidant-rich foods such as berries, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help eliminate the toxic free radicals that form in the brain under stress. Foods rich in carbohydrates-for example, whole-grain pastas and breads, sweet potatoes, or low-fat crackers-increase brain levels of serotonin, a brain molecule that promotes feelings of calm and well-being, and thus may help counteract stress. 

STRESS AGES THE BRAIN

The brain suffers greatly from long-term stress. Research suggest that the oxidative stress and inflammation associated with chronic stress actually accelerate aging by causing a premature reduction I the length of telomeres, protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that naturally shorten with age and are considered a measure of biological aging. According to a small study published Feb. 15, 2012, in Biological Psychiatry, people with depression and cortisol levels that indicated chronic stress had significantly shorter telomeres than comparable healthy individuals, and telomere length was inversely associated with higher levels of stress, suggesting that stress accelerates aging.

Too much stress for too long a time can also affect the way the brain functions. Research suggests that excess cortisol may worsen memory-especially in older individuals-by impairing the functioning of neurons in the hippocampus, a key center for learning and memory.

An animal study published in April 2011 I the Journal of Neuroscience found that in older mice, normal levels of cortisol stimulate receptors in the brain to create memories, but excessive cortisol levels spill over onto another type of receptor, triggering memory loss. The animals' memory was restored when the memory-loss receptor was blocked. The findings suggest that lowering levels of stress and stress hormones might improve memory in aging brains.

Other findings suggest that high levels of stress hormones may cause the networks of dendrites that connect neurons with one another to shrivel, atrophy, and retract, impairing communication among cells.

Stress also impairs the functioning of neurotransmitters-chemicals responsible for transmitting messages from one brain cell to another. The creation of new neurons in the hippocampus to replace injured or dying cells (a process called neurogenesis) may slow, resulting over time in shrinkage of that key memory area.

This damage to the hippocampus eventually interferes with a natural process in which the hippocampus signals cortisol production to shut down when a period of stress ends. Instead of stopping, the secretion of cortisol continues, leading to a degenerative cascade that causes greater damage to the hippocampus and still more cortisol production.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Learning to evoke the relaxation response is not difficult, Dr. Fricchione says. To begin with, two times a day, retire to a quiet place where you will not be disturbed and then:

• Get comfortable, close your eyes, and clear your mind of distracting everyday thoughts
• Focus your thoughts on your relaxation technique---such as the repletion of a word or prayer, or your repetitive breathing movements.
• When thoughts intrude, gently push them aside and return to your focal point.
• After 10 to 15 minutes, rest quietly for a few moments, then resume normal activities. 

Mind, Mood & Memory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Vol. 8/No. 5, May 2012

Charge: To provide for spiritual nurture and growth for all ages to an engaging faith that articulates the Gospel with words and demonstrates the Gospel in love, justice and action

Carolyn Carpenter and Steve Turner, Chairs; Committee members: Gail Lane, Sharon Larson, Sally Mackey, Melinda Mackey-O'Brien, Sarah Pham (staff) Linda Shaw, Nola Sparks, Judy Todd (PW Women), Sonya Vasilieff, Don Weber, Dawn Wilson, Dee Wix.

 

To many of you, this is just a bunch of backpacks, but to me it is a symbol of something far greater. For those of you who haven't seen our renovated classrooms in the CE building, you might not recognize the hooks that have been installed in the upstairs hallway. If you ever stopped by the after-school program prior to this year, you usually saw a huge pile of coats and backpacks somewhere in the hallway, usually right at the top of the stairs. This pile always bugged me, but we never had a place where the kids could hang their coats and backpacks in an organized fashion, so I learned to put up with the pile. Little did I know that the pile was going to disappear once the classroom remodel took place. I am beyond thankful for the way that LBPC has allowed us to update three of the classrooms, but one of the things that I am most thankful for are the hooks that have been hung in the hallway. Since the hooks have been installed, there is no longer a huge pile of coats and backpacks on the floor and it really does give me a sense of satisfaction and organization. It may seem hard to believe, but since the classrooms have been remodeled and the hooks have been installed, the attitude of the kids seems to have changed too. The kids have developed a greater respect for their belongings and this space is clean, fresh and new, and they are striving to keep it that way. In this season of thankfulness, I am VERY thankful for so many things, but I never knew how thankful I would be for 24 hooks on the wall.

In thankfulness,

 

Hospitality House

Donations Needed for November 2012

Hospitality House depends on the support of each of our sponsoring churches to serve homeless women in South King County. Your contributions of goods, volunteer services, and funding help provide the women with as many of the necessities and home comforts as possible. If you can donate even one box or package of any of these items, it would be a tremendous help.

 

The following is a list of our current needs:

 

Basic Needs:

paper towels (Urgent)

toilet paper (Urgent)

disinfectant wipes (Urgent)

multi-purpose floor cleaner

Latex gloves - size LG

multi-purpose disinfecting spray

 

Volunteers Needed:

handyman

overnight weekend volunteers

Thursday's Best workshop presenters

office volunteers

 

Food:

coffee filters (Urgent)

prepackaged nutritious snack items for lunches

prepackaged juice or bottled water for lunches

 

Clothing and Bedding:

pajamas- all sizes

underwear - all sizes

socks

slippers - all sizes

new pillows

 

Miscellaneous Needs:

combination locks

student planners

mouse pads

vacuum

coffee Grinder

bus ticket booklets

umbrellas

 

SPECIAL REQUEST OF THE MONTH:

$10 movie gift cards--these will be given to our residents during times of extreme weather.

 

Financial Donations:

Are always welcome!         

Please make checks payable to: Hospitality House

 

The churches collecting this month are Lake Burien Presbyterian and Des Moines United Methodist. You can drop your donations off directly at the shelter located 1419 SW 150th Street Burien, WA 98168 in Lake Burien Presbyterian Church. Your volunteer coordinator also may be collecting directly at your church.

 

Hospitality House is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. Your donation is tax deductible. Questions? Contact Sheenah Randolph at (206) 242-1860 or sheenahr.hospitalityhouse@gmail.com.