stress

Research from the University of British Columbia has found that depression may hinder a cancer patient’s chances of survival.

The study was conducted on a group of 26 other studies that included 9,417 patients. After examining the results, researchers found that death rates were as much as 25 percent higher with patients who showed symptoms of depression. But the rates were higher (39 percent) in patients who were officially diagnosed with depression.

While it’s always a good idea to keep a positive outlook on life to maintain optimal health, the researchers don’t want people to think it’s life or death to be chipper.

But they do think that the findings emphasize the need to screen cancer patients carefully for signs of psychological distress, since it is a small, but a real, risk of affecting the medical outcome of patients.

When I take long road trips, I always wonder when I see beautiful mansions on the side of the highway “why on Earth would anyone build such a beautiful home right there?” Well, there are more than aesthetic reasons for not building your home right next to a busy road. According to a team at Lund University in Sweden, people who live near a noisy road are at a greater risk of developing high blood pressure.

The health risk was even higher when the noise rose above an average daily exposure of 60 decibels. That accounts for about one in four people in western Europe. No comparable analysis was done on how many people would be affected in the U.S.

Between working, everyday life, random mishaps, and trying to find time to lose weight, stress is bound to happen. Well, Chill Out before you give yourself a coronary. Stress may be doing more than just making you feel bad, it can actually be stopping your weight loss, and may even promote weight gain! This problem isn’t just for adults, but for young people as well. According to new research, people are comfort eating more due to stress. Kids who are stressed are more likely to become overweight. Stress is also linked to water retention and that pesky belly fat that we are all trying to get rid of.

It seems to me, the stressors in our lives are affecting just about everything in our lives. If you’re like me, when you are stressed you put the gym on hold, or have a lack-luster workout. All that water retention combined with a bad workout really does not do wonders for the scale.

Here is just one more reason to roll out your yoga mat and breathe deep: A new study conducted at Ohio State University shows that employees who engage in yoga at work experience less stress and better sleeping patterns than those who don’t. The results which were reported in the most recent edition of the journal Health Education & Behavior had study participants perform just 20 minutes of yoga and meditation at their work desks and take part of one-hour weekly group meetings during their lunch breaks for six weeks.

The study illustrates a few key points about the mindfulness that a yoga and meditation practice can cultivate and the benefits of physical activity.

Bad eating habits isn’t the only thing that will make you fat. The stress of life will contribute significantly as well.

Studies of monkeys reveal an amazing parallel to human society. Carol A. Shively, PhD, and colleagues at Wake Forest University saw that those monkeys at the bottom of the pecking order in a monkey colony get blocked arteries much faster than the other monkeys. All of them in the study were fed the same high-fat diet.

The parallel to human society, of course, is that the poor are much more often heavier than the well-to-do. Being at the bottom rung of the social ladder has its stresses, human or animal.