Stress & Your Body: Home Monitoring Tricks To Keep You Healthy
It’s often said that stress is the number one killer of working age adults today. This statement is in fact not factual. No one has ever died simply from stress. However, leading a stressful lifestyle can put a person at risk for, and contribute to, a variety of health conditions. So what is one to do?
While the seemingly obvious answer is to simply get rid of stress altogether, let’s face it – that is easier said than done. Not many people can afford the luxury of quitting their job, dropping the mortgage and living the rest of their days out on a tropical beach worry free. Sadly, it’s just not in the cards. However, thanks to modern technology there are a number of things you can do from the convenience of your own home to monitor and help improve your health.
Stress is one of the leading contributing factors of hypertension. Hypertension, to put it simply, is chronic high blood pressure. Stress can cause hypertension through a combination of repeatedly elevating blood pressure and inducing chemical releases in the nervous system basically tricking the body into creating elevated levels of hormones designed to regulate blood pressure. The end result is uncontrollably and dangerously high blood pressure.
Hypertension can lead to a variety of serious health risks such as stroke and heart disease. While in some cases medication may be necessary, your best line of defense against hypertension is simply knowing your blood pressure and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Blood pressure monitors are an important part of treating hypertension. The American Heart Association recommends anyone with high blood pressure monitor his or her blood pressure at home. Home blood pressure monitoring not only helps to recognize early signs of hypertension but also is helpful in tracking the effectiveness of treatment. It allows both you and your doctor to evaluate patterns in your blood pressure and health and make adjustments to medication and exercise which can lead to a quicker recovery.
There are a number of different types of home monitoring devices for blood pressure. The most common of which are blood pressure cuffs. Blood pressure cuffs are the delightful arm bands made from a combination of rubber, nylon and Velcro. The cuff works by squeezing the arm and restricting the area for the blood to flow through in the vein.
There are two main types of blood pressure cuffs; manual and digital. Manual devices are all more or less the same as the type used by your physician to check blood pressure. The cuff is attached to an inflatable bulb and air in manually pumped into the cuff. The person administering the test is then able to listen to the blood flow through the main artery as the pressure slowly decreases. The one draw back to manual cuffs at home is that it can be difficult to test yourself and the results can be hard to discern.
The other type of blood pressure cuff is the digital monitor. Digital blood pressure monitors work by electronically inflating the cuff with the push of a button. After which a digital gauge reads the patients heart rate and blood pressure by measuring the variations in blood pressure throughout the artery. The largest and most common of the digital monitors are seen in drug stores. However, digital devices are available in small manageable sizes and are extremely cost effective. Most physicians recommend using a digital monitor because they are easier to use and offer an accurate reading every time.
Even if you have no history of high blood pressure checking your blood pressure is a simple and easy way to maintain good health. Not only can regularly checking blood pressure alert you to any changes and potential dangers, but it can also save you trips to the doctor and provide you with a more detailed health history to share with your medical provider during visits. With how easy it is to check your blood pressure at home, there really is no excuse for not making this a part of your regular routine.
Another bodily symptom of stress can be irregular breathing. The body’s respiratory system and stress seem to have a two way connection to one another. On one hand, it has long been recognized that deep breathing techniques help to reduce overall levels of stress and calm the body. When a person experiences significant levels of stress the body reactively diverts blood flow and oxygen to the major organs from the rest of the body. Breathing techniques not only can calm a person mentally but assist in redistributing much needed oxygen to the entire body. Meditation and yoga are often recommended de-stressers for this very reason.
However, just as breathing can react against stress, stress too can react against breathing and consequentially oxygen delivery. In fact, some studies have linked people in high stress positions to serious oxygen delinquency. Just because you feel your breathing is normal does not mean you are necessarily getting enough oxygen to your body. Just as with blood pressure monitors, there is a device you can use right from home to monitor the oxygen levels in your blood.
A pulse oximeter is a small device that slips over the end of a person’s finger and reads the levels of oxygen in his or her blood. In other words, pulse oximeters are the E.T. like red colored light hanging off your finger any time you spend the night in a hospital. They work by emitting selective wavelengths of light to measure the levels of oxyhemoglobin in the blood.
To put it simply, a pulse oximeter tells you if you are getting enough oxygen delivery throughout your body. If you suffer from a respiratory illness or find that your legs fall asleep frequently when sitting for prolonged periods of time you may want to consult your doctor about an in home pulse oximeter. They are non invasive and simple to use, and can go a long way in helping to keep you healthy.
Today stress is unavoidable. From the increasing demands at the workplace to managing the diverse range of schedules of your family, chances are you encounter a considerable number of stressors from the time you wake up in the morning until the moment you fall asleep at night. And while stress may be an unavoidable component of 21st century life, we are also fortunate to have a number of technological breakthroughs at our disposal to help cope with and manage the effects of stress. Just remember, the more you do at home to understand and become familiar with your body, the better prepared you are to combat the potential health risks associated with your daily stress.
This article is written by Jayson Bailey
