Stress – Too Much
Question: Can emotional factors like stress and
anxiety trigger an asthma attack?
Answer: Our understanding of asthma has
increased dramatically in the last 10-15 years. There are a number of ways that
stress and anxiety might make asthma worse.
First, mental and emotional
stress can cause narrowing of the breathing tubes (bronchoconstriction). In one
study adults with asthma were asked to do difficult math tests or watch
emotional videos. Tests demonstrated that these stressful mental events had
immediate effects: 15-30% of subjects reported increased tightening of the
airways.
Second, stress is associated
with worse asthma symptoms over months and years. The reasons for this are not
entirely clear. It may be that biological changes caused by stress make asthma
symptoms worse. Also, those with more mental stress may be worse at taking care
of themselves as a result: They may not take their medicines as prescribed.
They may stay in places filled with irritants that make their asthma worse. Or
they may not seek out healthcare or manage their asthma wisely. So it is clear
that stress can make asthma harder to manage. But emotions and stress are
likely to cause asthma by themselves. In this age of many effective treatments
for asthma, the following plan might be good: Use a healthcare team that will
educate you and help you to manage your asthma. Keep in close touch with them
and work with them closely. If possible, change your life so it will be less
stressful. However, remember that stress often has many causes and change may
be slow.
Finally, remember, stress may
sometimes contribute to your symptoms, but it is not the main cause of
problems.
Question: What are the Negative Effects of Stress?
Answer: In prehistoric times, the physical changes in response to stress were
an essential adaptation for meeting natural threats. Even in the modern world,
the stress response can be an asset for raising levels of performance during
critical events such as a sports activity, an important meeting, or in
situations of actual danger or crisis.
If stress becomes persistent and low-level,
however, all parts of the body's stress apparatus (the brain, heart, lungs,
vessels, and muscles) become chronically over- or under-activated. This may
produce physical or psychologic damage over time.
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