Physiological Impact of Stress on Women Health

Abstract

One can experience various amplitude of stress depending on the frequency and duration of of the stressors. The short-term stress can be balanced by body’s own homeostatic mechanisms but the long-term stress has a negative impact on both the physiological and psychological well-being of an individual. The chronic stress is associated with increased emotional feeding, visceral fat accumulation, change in glucose uptake and metabolism, altered sleep cycle, anxiety and depression. In physiological conditions stress is manifested by the generation and accumulation of free radicals in the body. Some of the health hazards of stress are experienced equally both by men and women like weaker immune systems, sleeping disorder and digestive symptoms. But there are other ways stress can affect women's health like problems in conception across the fertile window, hormonal changes through the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovary axis causing more susceptible to menstrual disorders. Women also face an increase level of anxiety, depression, emotional eating and obesity in exposure to long-term stressors. Antioxidants can terminate the chain reaction initiated by free radicals preventing oxidative stress-related damage. A woman needs to manage the stressors with proper food and lifestyle modifications. Among different stress management strategies diet can be one of them.