Can you imagine yourself wearing a device that can measure your stress levels? A device that can tell you to stop, slow down, and take a deep breath? A device that may be able to prevent an impending heart attack or stroke?

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) were just testing a prototype the other day. The ETH researcerhs, together with psychologists from the University of Zurich tested the device on 30 volunteers – students who were about to take a rather difficult Math exam. The prototype performed rather well, with an estimated 83% success rate of recognizing “stressed individuals”.

So how does this device work? The device works in different ways and measures several parameters, namely:

• Heart rate
• Respiration rate
• Levels of the stress hormones cortisol in the saliva
• Conductivity of the skin

Heart and respiration rates increase when people are under pressure. The body then produces increased levels of cortisol. Sweating of the palm and the soles of the feet occur, leading to increased conductivity. With these measurements, the device can tell you how stressed you are.

The performance of the prototype was definitely better than a device installed in the students’ chairs which measured the movement of the seated person with the hypothesis that the more movement, the higher is the stress level. The rate of success of the chair-attached device is only 73%.

There is a great potential for an effective stress-measuring device in terms of health care and financial xxx. The currently prototype being tested is kind of bulky with lots of cables and electrodes attached to it. The researchers, however, hope to make the device smaller through miniaturization and wireless technology so that it would be small enough to wear like a watch around the wrist or inserted in your socks.

Measuring stress levels is very important as research evidence has shown stress to be linked to cardiovascular as well as mental health. A small device that can measure different parameters related to stress can help people keep their stress levels under control comparable to how diabetes patients keep their glycemic levels under control by monitoring blood sugar levels. In doing so, stress-related heart attacks and strokes can be prevented and minimized. Do you think we will finally see such a device in the market? Let’s wait and see in 2 to 3 years’ time.

Chocolate has always been considered a major enemy of healthy living. But recent studies show that thre might be a good side to this dark temptation.

In the third book of the Harry Potter series ,Harry  collapsed after being  attacked by dementors on the train to Hogwarts. His teacher Prof Lupin gave him a very unusual, yet effective treatment: a chocolate bar. It might just be a story but author Joanne Rowling seems to know something about chocolates and stress.

A new researcher study published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research reveals that there might be something to the so-called chocolate therapy for emotional stress. The report continues to that eating 40 grams (about an ounce and a half) of dark chocolate a day during a period of two weeks can modify the metabolism and reduce levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed.

The Swiss and German researchers looked at 30 participants (11 men and 19 women aged 18 to 35 years) who were otherwise healthy except for stress. The levels of emotional anxiety were measured through questionnaires and urine and blood plasma samples were collected  regularly during the 14-day study period. The participants were classified according to their anxiety state and those with higher stress levels had a distinct metabolic profile based on blood and urine tests. However, daily consumption of 40 g of dark chocolate  for two weeks resulted in reduction of the stress hormone cortisol and also partially normalized stress-related differences in energy metabolism and gut microbial activities. The chocolate used in the study was Noir Intense by Nestle, which contained 74% cocoa solids. A 20 g bar was consumed as snack at midmorning and another one at midafternoon.

But what is in the chocolate that counteracts stress? It is not fully known but chocolate is known to contain antioxidants that are beneficial to heart health.

The authors conclude:

The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 g of dark chocolate during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of free living and healthy human subjects, as per variation of both host and gut microbial metabolism.

However, we shouldn’t forget that too much of a good thing can be bad. Dark chocolate may be good for our health but white chocolate is not. And remember that chocolate bars, even if dark,  still contains some sugar and fat that can be fattening and unhealthy if taken in large amounts. So remember, this and other similar studies on the benefit of chocolate do not give you the license to gorge on chocolate. Moderation is still the key to everything.

It is a well-known fact that asthma attacks are triggered by air pollution, especially among children. A recent study by researchers at the University of California shows that another factor exacerbates asthma risk among children already suffering from dirty air. And this factor is parental stress.

The authors tell BBC:

“These results suggest that children from stressful households are more susceptible to the effects of traffic-related pollution and in utero tobacco smoke on the development of asthma.”

The link between stress and asthma many have a biological explanation. Previous studies have shown that :

• Maternal stress during pregnancy is linked increased risk for developing asthma and other allergies in children.
• Maternal smoking during pregnancy and after delivery also contributes to children’s asthma risk.
• Direct stress trigger also triggers asthma attacks in both children and adults.

The current study looked at 2,497 primary school children who initially did not have asthma  in Southern California and followed them up for 3 years. The children were monitored for the development of asthma, asthma risk factors  in their immediate environment (traffic pollution, second hand smoking) and psychosocial factors such as parental education, income, and stress levels.

Children exposed to air pollution and second hand smoking (especially maternal smoking) had a higher risk of developing asthma. However, high levels of stress in the family seem to have a compounding effect on asthma. The children who were especially affected were those who described their parents as „stressed“ and their lives as „unpredictable”, “uncontrollable” or “overwhelming“.

The authors believe that stress adds to the inflammatory effects of air pollutants.

According to Elaine Vickers of Asthma UK:

“This study adds to existing evidence suggesting that a child’s environment can impact on their risk of developing asthma.
For example, smoking during pregnancy, traffic pollution and stress in the home may all have harmful effects.
We know that smoking during pregnancy significantly increases a baby’s risk of having breathing difficulties and that children whose parents smoke are 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma, so Asthma UK strongly advises parents to avoid smoking around children and young people, especially in the home.
One in 11 children in the UK has asthma so studies like this are vital, as they provide an insight into the factors influencing asthma development and therefore how it might be prevented.”

September is Healthy Aging®Month in the US, an annual observance month designed to focus attention on the positive aspects of growing older. Last week, September 18 was National Aging Awareness Day in the US.

That is why I take this opportunity to focus on the relationship between stress and aging.

Stress can put more lines on your face and turn more hairs into grey. But it is not just the outward signs of aging that is linked to stress. It’s the overall aging process that includes health problems and illnesses.

Aging (also spelled as ageing) is defined as the process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated. One of the environmental factors that contribute to aging is stress in many different forms. Below I summarize a couple of recent research studies on the link between aging and stress.

Animal studies

According to a report by researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland

As we get older, our health tends to decline, but in addition to this, environmental factors make us age. Our age in terms of years may not correspond to the body’s true age.

The researchers studied the effect of environmental stress (e.g. harsh winters) on the health of sheep and found that stress has a long term effect on the animals’ health. What’s more, if these stressors are persistent, they actually have a cumulative effect that accelerates the aging process. Thus, animals with more stress exposure aged faster than those who had less. And with aging comes weaker immune system and age-related illnesses.

Human studies

In the recent issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, researchers from the Rockefeller University reports that prolonged stress  exposure induces cells to release its calcium stores, leading to apoptosis or cell death. Apoptosis is behind many age-related diseases.

Tips on how to slow down aging

There is no such thing as an Elixir of Life that can stop aging and death. However, our lifestyle can strongly influence our longevity. Here are some tips from Medicine.Net:

• Eat a balanced diet, including five helpings of fruits and vegetables a day.
• Exercise regularly (check with a doctor before starting an exercise program).
• Get regular health check-ups.
• Don’t smoke (it’s never too late to quit).
• Practice safety habits at home to prevent falls and fractures.
• Always wear your seatbelt in a car.
• Stay in contact with family and friends.
• Stay active through work, play, and community.
• Avoid overexposure to the sun and the cold.
• If you drink, moderation is the key.
• When you drink, let someone else drive.
• Keep personal and financial records in order to simplify budgeting and investing.
• Plan long-term housing and money needs.
• Keep a positive attitude toward life.
• Do things that make you happy.

For the typical office worker, the workplace is a place to be sedentary yet full of stress. Stressors affect a worker’s health and productivity in a most negative way, effects that extend beyond the normal working hours. Sleep quality of stressed office workers tend to be poor, thus creating a vicious cycle of perennial tiredness and stress.

There are however ways to counteract stress in the workplace.

A study by Ohio State University researchers used a modified version of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program. MBSR has been in use for about 30 years now to help hospital patients cope with being sedentary and cooped up.

“Mindfulness refers in part to one’s heightened awareness of an external stressor as the first step toward relaxing in a way that can minimize the effects of that stress on the body.”

The traditional MBSR program routine is a one-hour daily session for 8 weeks, plus a long weekly supplemental session and a full day retreat. This program, however, can’t be applied in the workplace due to its long duration and the different environment.

The revised version of the MBSR was designed for office-based workers wearing professional attire and consisted of the following:

• one-hour weekly group meetings during lunch
• 20 minutes of meditation and yoga per day at the desks

The program lasted for six weeks. After six weeks, the study participants reported that “they were more aware of external stressors, they felt less stressed by life events, and they fell asleep more easily than did a control group that did not experience the intervention.”

Recently, more and more employers have become aware of the importance of wellness in the workplace. A healthy employee is a happy and productive employee. In addition, healthy employees mean lower healthcare costs.

Most of workplace wellness programs concentrate on physical exercise to help fight obesity, obesity being a consequence of sedentary lifestyle. Thus, fitness centers and fitness programs have become popular in offices worldwide. Less attention is given to fighting stress which another factor of wellness.

According to lead researcher Maryanna Klatt, an assistant professor of clinical allied medicine at Ohio State University:

“Because chronic stress is associated with chronic disease, I am focusing on how to reduce stress before it has a chance to contribute to disease. My interest is to see whether or not we can get people to reduce their health care utilization because they’re less stressed. I want to deliver something low cost at the work site, something practical that can be sustained, that can help reduce health care costs.”

The modified MBSR seems to be the answer. A pilot study of the program showed that 20 minutes of guided yoga and meditation plus a weekly group session can reduce feelings of stress by more than 10% among sedentary office workers as well as improve their sleep quality.

There is nothing more stressful for children and their parents than the problem of bedwetting or enuresis in medical terms. It is also a childhood problem that is embarrassing, and unlike food allergies and asthma, is almost always kept private.

So what causes bedwetting?

There are medical explanations for bedwetting, including late maturation or deformity of the urinary bladder, urinary tract infections, sleeping disorders, hormonal problems (low anti-diuretic hormone levels), and take note – genetics. However, these account for only 3% of cases of bedwetting.

The majority of cases are actually more of psychological rather than physiological in nature. And psychological stress is the most likely culprit.

Children have different ways of reacting to or coping with stress. Stress is usually brought about by change, and change can be minor (e.g. move to a new residence or a new school) or major (change in family structure such as divorce, loss of a close loved one, etc.)

What is clear is that

• Bedwetting is more common than we think. “From 5 to 7 million kids wet the bed some or most nights — with twice as many boys wetting their bed as girls.“
• Bedwetting is not the child’s fault, e.g. laziness to get up to pee).
• Bedwetting comes and goes. Some kids who have been “dry” for months or years may suddenly relapse into bedwetting. Some kids never gain control of the bladder at nighttime until at a late age. In fact, according to this WedMD featured article, 15% of children still wet the bed at age 5, 12% at age 6, but 95% are dry by age 10.
• Bedwetting causes stress for both child and parents.

Is there something that can be done? Well, the first thing to do is find out the root cause, e.g. what causes the stress. Some sources of stress may not be overt, e.g. bullying at school, problems with the teacher, with schoolwork.

Dr. Howard Bennett is a pediatrician specialized in enuresis and wrote the book Waking Up Dry: A Guide to Help Children Overcome Bedwetting gives the following practical tips:

• Encouraging a child to pee before bedtime.
• Restricting a child’s fluid intake before bed.
• Covering the mattress with plastic.
• Bed-wetting alarms. These alarms sense urine and wake a child so they can use the toilet.
• Bladder stretching exercises that may increase how much urine the bladder can hold.
• Medications

Bedwetting is a problem that creates a vicious cycle. Stress causes the child to lose nighttime bladder control, causing stress to the parents and additional distress to the child, thus exacerbating the problem. As the child grows older, the problem becomes more socially unacceptable. Sleepovers and camps – these are just a few childhood situations where bedwetting outside the home can cause problems.

According to Dr. Bennett

Because bedwetting gets better on its own, “in the past, doctors often said to parents and kids, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ ‘But if it’s causing anxiety or social problems, it’s important to know there are things families can do to make the situation better.”

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A lot of things have changed in the last 30 years. The first test tube baby was delivered and thousands of IVF babies followed. Medical science has made great advances in fighting cancer and other diseases. If you look back 30 years ago, what has changed in your life?

A Swedish study gives a very good insight as to how middle-age women’s lives have changed (or haven’t changed) during the last 30 plus years. The study is part of the Prospective Population Study of Women in Gothenburg, Sweden which was started during the late 1960s. 1,462 middle-aged Swedish women were followed up into the 21^st century, in terms of lifestyle and health, among others.

The study results showed that many things have changed for the better since the initiation of the study, namely:

• Blood pressure measurements have greatly improved.
• Serum lipid levels have also significantly improved.
• Average body mass index did not significantly change.
• Overall risk factors for cardiovascular disease have significantly decreased.

The researchers attributed these positive changes to healthier lifestyles. In the 60s, for example, only 15% of women exercised regularly. Nowadays it is about 40%.

There is, however, one thing that did not improve but in fact increased for the worse – stress.

At the start of the study (1968 to 1969):

• 28% of participants reported to be suffering from nervousness.
• 36% experienced stress.

Reports in 2004 to 2005:

• 75% of participants reported stress, more than double the numbers 32 years earlier.

This chronic stress seems to take a toll on the health of those suffering from it.

According to researcher Dominique Hange

“The women who stated at the end of the 1960s that they suffered from nervousness or perceived stress had a higher frequency of abdominal problems, asthma, headache, and frequent infections. This is true both at the time they were examined and nearly 25 years later. We could also in a longer perspective, see that the women who were mentally stressed had a higher mortality, and a somewhat higher incidence of breast cancer”.

Despite the great improvement in our lifestyles, has our lives become more stressful? Will stress eventually kill off mankind?

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Living through a traumatic event can leave lasting scars. Even after a physical trauma or injury has healed, patients can still suffer from acute emotional distress in relation to the said trauma. These patients suffer from the so-called posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is a real disorder and should be taken seriously. It can cause mental and physical problems, negatively affects health outcomes, reduces quality of life, and increases health care costs. Some of the overt effects of PTSD are

• Flashbacks, or feeling like the event is happening again
• Trouble sleeping or nightmares
• Feeling alone
• Angry outbursts
• Feeling worried, guilty or sad

There are several interventions used to treat PTSD. One type of intervention is called exposure therapy.

Exposure therapy, as the term implies, exposes a patient to the source of the stress, e.g. reliving a traumatic experience. However, many health professionals refrain from using exposure therapy for fear of causing too much distress for recent trauma survivors. Researchers from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia conducted a study which compared exposure therapy to another intervention called cognitive restructuring. The latter “focuses on changing maladaptive thoughts and responses to a traumatic event.”  The study looked at 90 patients who had PTSD following a non-sexual assault or a vehicular accident. The study participants were randomly split into 3 groups.

• 30 participants were given 5 x 90-minute weekly exposure therapy sessions.
• 30 participants were given 5 x 90-minute weekly cognitive restructuring therapy sessions.
• 30 participants were placed on the waiting list and served as control.

The study results showed that participants who underwent exposure therapy fared better and exhibited reduced distressed ratings compared to the other two groups. More patients in the exposure therapy group met the criteria for having PSTD at the end of the study. Also, more patients in this group achieved full remission.

The authors also observed that

“Despite some concerns that patients may not be able to manage the distress elicited by prolonged exposure, there was no difference in drop-out rates for the prolonged exposure and cognitive restructuring groups (17 percent vs. 23 percent).”

The study results indicate that exposure therapy can be an effective intervention in preventing the progression from acute stress disorder to a full-blown PTSD.

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It’s a vicious cycle. The current economic situation has created an environment of stress as people worry about their finances and their jobs. Unfortunately, this stress can only lead to more financial woes because, as researchers report, stress can badly affect people’s judgment when making financial decisions. According to psychologists Anthony Porcelli and Mauricio Delgado of Rutgers University, “acute stress affects risk taking during financial decision making.”

The researchers conducted as test on a group of volunteers by asking them to make financial gambles in a stressed or stress-free environment. Stress was simulated by immersion of the participants’ hand in ice-cold water while room temperature water was used to simulate a no-stress environment. The choices were categorized as

• Risky, e.g. less likely but with a high payout
• Conservative, e.g. more likely but with a lower value

The results were consistent with a phenomenon known as the reflection effect – we tend to show increased conservatism when choosing between two potentially positive outcomes, but increase our risky behaviour when choosing between two gambles that result in a loss. However, this study suggests that stress exaggerates this effect; while exposed to stress volunteers were more conservative when choosing between potentially positive outcomes and were riskier when choosing between gambles that could result in a loss.

The researchers theorize that during stressful conditions, people tend to fall back on “automatic, lower-level thought processes,” and thus lose our ability to rationalize and think deliberately. The results of the study have some implication on those who work in the financial sector especially in stock trading where split second decisions are made that may mean a loss or a win of millions of dollars.

Previous studies on financial decision making have implicated the role of the hormones testosterone and cortisol. The level of the male hormone testosterone was positively linked to the amount of money gained by stock traders as well as their risk-taking behavior. The stress hormone cortisol, on the other hand, did not seem to correlate on losing or winning but reflected more the volatility of the financial market. In another study, researchers found that women who were given testosterone for a month did not exhibit increased risk-taking behaviour in making financial decisions. These findings may suggest that

• The previous link between testosterone and risky behaviour should be reevaluated.
• Women are simply more conservative by nature, and probably are “a safer pair of hands on the stock-market trading floor than men.”

Which goes back to the question as to how the global economy ended up in the mess we are currently in.

But back to stress – how can we minimize the effect of stress in our financial decision-making activities? Stay tuned for our next resource post on stress management.

We are not supposed to drive when we are under the influence of alcohol or certain drugs. But what about driving while under stress? You may think that stress and driving actually go together in one package. Tell that to the people driving to and from work everyday during rush hour. Tell that to the person standing still in a gridlock. Tell that to the mom who has to shuttle her little kids to and from school, to football practice, and so on.

But sometimes major events can drastically increase stress and anxiety levels that will in turn have adverse effects on performing daily routines, including driving. With serious consequences.

One of the most traumatic and stressful experience that Americans have had in recent years is the September 11 terrorist attacks. The incident had such long lasting effects on people’s psyche that researchers are just discovering now, 8 years later.

Psychologist Alexander J. Rothman and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota analyzed records obtained from the US Department of Transportation to see if there was any relation between geographic location and the rate of fatal traffic accidents that occurred in the three months immediately following the September 11 terrorist attacks… The authors found that there was an increase in the rate of traffic fatalities in the three months following the 9/11 attacks, but only in the Northeast, the region closest to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. A follow-up analysis showed that there was a significant increase in the rate of traffic fatalities in the months following September 11 in the state of New York. This pattern of findings is consistent with the premise that stress-related reductions in the quality of driving led to a spike in the rate of fatal traffic accidents.

The findings of the study indicate that living close to the location of a highly traumatic event leads to increased psychological stress. In turn, psychological stress can impair a person’s driving ability, an impairment that can lead to serious, even fatal traffic accidents. There is therefore a need to re-examine what we know about stress and driving. In addition, psychologists will be able to anticipate behavioural patterns in response to traumatic experiences. The results of the study have been published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

I cannot drive effectively when I am under stress, even it is not necessarily due to a major traumatic experience. The stress of work and family responsibilities can sometimes be too much. That is why I prefer to take the public transport. Less stress, less damage to the environment.

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