Until reading Robert M. Sapolsky's Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, I did not realize how easily stress and its detrimental effects plague us. Just with our thoughts and not moving a muscle, we can mess with our body's homeostasis. Our thoughts can trigger our organs to secrete hormones as a response to the stressor and spark a chain reaction of responses throughout our body. I used to always attributed stress as a good thing which helps push and motivate me. However, the book proves to us that perpetually being in a stressful state is bad for our health in the long run. This shows that while a short-term stress may be healthy, constantly being stressed and worried is not good for us. It surprised me to read that due to stress our immunity will be inhibited and our body will delay in finding things such as tumor cells and delay producing antibodies to protect us. The stress response can be more harmful than stress itself. A stressful thought can be likened to a prey running away from its hunter. It puts our bodies into overtime and can affect us by causing the blood to rush through our veins and arteries creating more muscles around these blood vessels, which is bad for us and may cause cardiovascular diseases for us in the future. Regardless, sometimes there are people who may go through the same stressful situation but some of them may not develop a cardiovascular disease due to their personalities and some may already have a damaged cardiovascular system which the stress will hurt them more. It was also interesting to see that when woman produce estrogen at a younger age, it is more likely to protect them against cardiovascular diseases. I find it really interesting that our body has unique responses to certain situations but long-term stress will have harmful repercussions.
Stress is what helps us achieve our goals and determine what we want to and can do in life but it has its consequences just like everything. Sapolsky discusses how stress can harm the human body in ways that we cannot imagine. According to some, stress determines the success in them, but I agree with the writer. Human beings are the most developed living things on earth because they can think and plan about the future, which brings stress along with it. Zebra’s, or any creature, only stresses out about instant threats, such as when being chased by lions, while humans create scenarios in their heads and worry about what their outcomes will be. This constant worry brings with it many drawbacks. It causes cancer, ulcers, cardiovascular diseases etc. that cannot be diagnosed in the short run. Although stress is the cause for long term diseases according to Sapolsky, the degree of stress has a big factor. When stress gets out of control and the effects of the hormones start to intervene with the working of the brain, the body is does the most harm to itself.
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