How does stress affect the aging process?
When an individual is faced with a stressful situation, the body adapts by releasing stress hormones into the bloodstream. These hormones make it possible for the individual s fight or flight mechanisms to be activated. Physical changes enable the individual to respond quickly to cope with emergencies, but this response is only adaptive for short-term use. When stress hormones are activated on a permanent basis, other body systems suffer from deterioration and become vulnerable to degenerative diseases. Since maintaining high levels of stress is commonly a bad habit, we must learn how to reduce our stress level in order to reduce the constant assault of stress hormones. Practicing various relaxation techniques, such as meditation and resisting the urge to let little things upset you, must become a regular part of life. • What else can we do to protect our neural functioning as we age? Researchers Walsh and Morgan also suggest that we protect our brains from the damaging environmental c
