Physiological Impacts of Stress on Our Body

You’re stuck in traffic, late for a meeting you worked very hard to get, looking at your watch as the minutes tick away.

The hypothalamus—your brain’s control tower—orders to send in some stress hormones. Your breath quickens, your heart races, and your muscles tense.

This response protects your body by preparing you to react fast in an emergency. However, if your stress response continues to fire daily, it may jeopardize your health.

While low levels of acute stress are unlikely to harm your health, persistent stress can significantly influence your health and well-being. These effects can be felt in a multitude of ways…

…which is why we’re here to help you decode the impact of stress on each physiological system in the human body.

The different systems of the body that are affected by stress include:

Nervous System

When you are under a lot of stress, your nervous system sends messages to your pituitary and adrenal glands to stimulate the production of more adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline is the hormone responsible for increasing the heart rate, elevating your BP and boosting your energy supplies.

Cortisol, on the other hand, is the primary stress hormone and increases the availability of glucose in the blood and improves the brain’s utilization of glucose. 

The nervous system also controls the cooling period that occurs after a stressful incident has passed. As a result, chronic stress can wear down the body by overworking the nerves.

Respiratory System

Shortness of breath or hyperventilation (increased breathing rate) can be caused by stressful events.

People with pre-existing respiratory issues may experience asthma attacks and other complications due to acute stress.

Chronic stress can lead to more serious illnesses like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) over time.

Cardiovascular System

Your blood pressure, heart rate, and the contractions of your heart muscles increase due to your body’s “fight or flight” response to acute stress.

Because your heart rate and blood pressure are always raised, chronic stress puts additional pressure on the cardiovascular system, which could develop into long-term cardiac problems such as hypertension, heart attack, and stroke.

Gastrointestinal System

Nerves and bacteria in the gut communicate with the brain to regulate mood and improve general health.

Stressful situations can disrupt this connection, resulting in bloating, pain, and other gastrointestinal issues. Being overweight can also be a problem for folks who binge eat when stressed.

Stress can also trigger painful spasms in the food pipe and bowels and weaken the intestinal walls that prevent hazardous bacteria from entering the stomach.

Reproductive System

Chronic stress has been known to cause a decrease in the sex drive of both men and women. It may result in decreased sperm motility in men, and in women, it could lead to difficulty in conceiving.

Chronic stress in pregnant women can even have an impact on the development of the fetus.

Musculoskeletal System

During stressful situations, you may experience your muscles tensing up. Dilated blood vessels in the arms and legs generate this reflex, which is the body’s way of guarding you against potential danger or pain.

Chronic stress can lead to prolonged muscle tension, contributing to migraine headaches and upper and lower back pain, among other issues.

In addition, the pain of this continual tension might lead to long-term stress in a cyclical pattern.

The bottom line

Stress is unavoidable! What counts is how you deal with it. Knowing stress symptoms is the best way to avoid it and the health risks that come with it. 

Speak to your doctor if you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of stress because they may also be indicators of other health issues.

Your doctor can refer you to a therapist or counsellor who can help you manage stress better.