stress is a mess

The research on stress is so ridiculously interesting.

I like to think of stress as comparable to ice cream:

     -necessary in our lives

     -helpful in moderate quantities

     -dangerous in excessive amounts and over long periods of time, especially for your health

Aside from my sweet analogy...a little stress—like right before an exam—can boost your performance; the 'fight or flight' response—which allows us to lift cars when babies are stuck beneath them—is hardwired into our bodies; chronic stress is slowly murdering millions, and get this—the stress you encounter also affects your unborn child! The following summary speaks to how hardships throughout life can ultimately change our genetic activity: not for the better and not just during pregnancy. 

Unzipped chromosomes pass on parental stress

by Andy Coghlan Mutant fruit flies have helped solve one of the biggest puzzles in genetics: how the stress of starvation or drug addiction can pass on its ill effects to the sufferer's children and grandchildren. Stress is thought to cause "epigenetic" changes that do not alter the sequence of DNA but leave chemical marks on genes that dictate how active they are. Previous studies have shown that if mice are stressed for two weeks after birth, their offspring will show signs of depression and anxiety, despite enjoying the usual levels of maternal care. And there is mounting evidence that common health problems including diabetes, obesity, mental illness and even fear could be the result of stress on parents and grandparents. However, until now attempts to identify changes in inherited DNA that might explain how these effects are passed on have failed. Now, Shunsuke Ishii at the Riken Tsukuba Institute in Ibaraki, Japan, and colleagues have identified a molecular mechanism by which the effects of stress can be handed down without altering genes or DNA. "We believe we can convince many sceptics by clarifying the mechanism," says Ishii. His team have shown that chemical or environmental stress detaches a protein called activating transcription factor 2 (ATF-2) from chromatin, the densely packed DNA that makes up chromosomes. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

 

I suggest you read Robert Sapolsky's Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers.

Plus, he is a bearded beauty.

Hope everyone can find a way to lead a mostly stress-free life! And if you do, let me know your secrets!