{"id":74624,"date":"2025-08-16T18:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T18:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/74624\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T18:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T18:05:11","slug":"stress-is-silently-destroying-your-health-heres-how-science-plans-to-stop-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/74624\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress Is Silently Destroying Your Health\u2026 Here\u2019s How Science Plans to Stop It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Clinicians know chronic stress fuels heart disease, cancer, stroke, and depression. Yet it\u2019s rarely measured in the exam room\u2014meaning it\u2019s rarely addressed. Psychologists like George Slavich at UCLA want to change that.<\/p>\n<p>Slavich\u2019s wake-up call came the night his father died unexpectedly. As a stress researcher, he knew the shock would reverberate through his body\u2014but his doctor never assessed it. \u201cIf stress isn\u2019t assessed, it isn\u2019t addressed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Short bursts of pressure can sharpen performance, but when cortisol and the sympathetic nervous system stay switched on, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/your-poop-clock-reveals-key-clues-about-your-health_17707\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">health risks<\/a> mount: inflammation, immune suppression, unhealthy coping behaviors, and accelerated disease. And stress levels are rising\u2014after the Great Recession, through COVID-19, and amid today\u2019s social and economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n<p>When good stress turns bad<\/p>\n<p>From tight deadlines to financial strain, discrimination, and loss, stressors activate the body\u2019s fight-or-flight response\u2014flooding the blood with cortisol, raising heart rate, and priming the immune system. This ancient survival system wasn\u2019t built for chronic triggers like debt, online harassment, or gridlock.<\/p>\n<p>Overreacting to minor threats, anticipating danger too soon, or staying \u201cswitched on\u201d too long shifts stress from adaptive to toxic. Yet current measurement tools\u2014self-reports, blood pressure, cortisol, heart rate\u2014can be skewed by coffee, exercise, or time of day.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers like Slavich are expanding the view: tracking how stress alters 1,500+ genes, immune markers, hormones, microbiome balance, and more. Affordable at-home tests and new wearables now capture heart-rate variability, skin conductance, sleep patterns, and soon real-time cortisol.<\/p>\n<p>From metrics to medicine<\/p>\n<p>Clinicians need clear thresholds\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/these-foods-your-microbiome-loves-could-help-reduce-your-stress_18444\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stress<\/a> \u201ccut-off\u201d points\u2014to guide intervention, just as cholesterol markers guide heart care. Slavich envisions a composite stress score integrating biological and self-report data.<\/p>\n<p>Effective treatments already exist: CBT to reduce rumination, breathing and mindfulness practices, social connection, exercise, and nature exposure. In some cases, beta-blockers, anti-inflammatories, or omega-3s can modulate physiological responses.<\/p>\n<p>Personalizing the fix<\/p>\n<p>The future is tailored stress care: matching interventions to biology, history, and environment. Men may spike cortisol for performance challenges, women for interpersonal conflict. A disrupted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/mystery-of-mosquito-magnets-finally-solved-by-science_19041\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">microbiome<\/a> or early trauma can hardwire vulnerability.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: better assessment and customized interventions could make stress a vital sign in every check-up\u2014transforming how we protect health in a high-pressure world.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/auteur-fs-100x100.webp.webp\" class=\"attachment-100x100 size-100x100\" alt=\"author-fs\" itemprop=\"image\"  \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clinicians know chronic stress fuels heart disease, cancer, stroke, and depression. Yet it\u2019s rarely measured in the exam&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-74624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}