Stress is omnipresent in our modern lives, but is it really a threat to our health and longevity? Discover the good news that science brings us!
“Is stress deadly? Not so fast!”
If stress punctuates your daily life, you're probably familiar with the consequences: difficulty relaxing, sleep disorders, anxiety… In a world where everything is accelerating, it's normal to fear that stress will eventually kill us.
The bad news is that stress can indeed affect our health and well-being. The good news is that it will probably take a long time before it kills you.
“Top 5 stress-related causes of death: you'll never guess which is first!”
Today, five leading causes of death are stress-related: heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and stroke. A century ago, the average life expectancy was about 50 years, and the leading causes of death were infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza. According to health data in 2022, our current life expectancy is 82.2 years. Four of the top five causes of death are now stress-related.
“Why dying from stress at age 70 is great news!”
A hundred years ago, most adults died of infectious diseases at a much younger age. Today, we have the “luxury” of dying of stress at age 70 or even older. It may seem surprising, but stress is actually the cause of most deaths, as reported in “Psychology Today.”
Consider heart disease, the leading cause of death in adults. The cardiovascular system, including the heart and blood vessels, is particularly sensitive to stress. One of the main responses to stress is to increase blood flow to active muscles to escape a hypothetical predator. Like any mechanical system, the cardiovascular system will eventually wear out under chronic stress.
“How to Survive Stress Longer Than Any Time in the History of Our Species”
Advances in cardiovascular medicine are reducing the negative impact of the Modern Lifestyle on our heart and blood vessels. The effect of stress on the cardiovascular system can be offset by improvements in diet, exercise and medicine, extending the health of the system into our eighth or ninth decade of life. Stress is always present, but our modern mitigation techniques allow us to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system well into the future.
In summary, although stress remains a scourge, we are now able to survive its effects longer than at any time in the history of our species. While stress can be deadly, we also have tools at our disposal to delay its consequences for a much longer period of time. Future generations can therefore afford to be stressed even longer!
Summary
My name is Maggie and I'm a writer for thesilverink.com, a website dedicated to news, culture and lifestyle. I have always been passionate about writing and I decided to make it my profession by becoming a web editor. I work on counterpoint.info and I mainly take care of the lifestyle section. I like to share my discoveries and my favorites with the readers, whether it's about fashion, beauty, decoration or gastronomy.
