Doctors are noticing a disturbing pattern of symptoms and ailments in people with otherwise normal health -- and it's the physical traces that chronic stress is leaving on our bodies from dealing with life in a pandemic.
Research shows that high levels of stress over an extended period of time can drastically alter physical function and affect nearly every organ system. And you don’t even have to have novel coronavirus to feel the strain.
Eight months into the pandemic, alongside a divisive election cycle and racial unrest, those effects are showing up in hair loss, headaches, cracked teeth, and shingles.
Speaking of stress, sometimes it feels like we’re being pulled in too many directions by those that need our help -- especially if we’re struggling to keep our own lives together in these tough times.
If you’re feeling anxious, sad, and bad for not being able to help others enough, you may have what mental health professionals are calling “compassion fatigue.”
But you can manage it by shifting your perspective and taking small steps if you feel overwhelmed.
You know how after a tough workout, you drink water and it just doesn’t seem like enough? That’s probably because your body is also craving salt and minerals -- the kind you find in Gatorade and other sports drinks.
Scientists have tapped into mouse brains and discovered that there are two types of thirst and they are triggered by two different kinds of brain cells -- one for water and one for salts. And these areas in the brain also help regulate our blood pressure.
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