Stomach Health Effected by Stress?

Almost everyone has felt that hallowing, painful feeling in the pit of their stomach at some point or another. Sometimes it could be chalked up to improper digestion issues, or an unfamiliar mix of food and drink.  Sometimes it’s due to hunger.  Regardless of the cause, the majority of the time people find a way to control it and move on. However, in some instances others can’t do anything to stop it from lingering. It has become apparent over time that inexplicable stomachaches have a strong correlation with the presence of heightened levels of stress.  Nowadays it is common for a doctor to diagnose a stomachache as an effect of stress. Unfortunately, advanced scientific research is correlating long term stress with severe stomach implications and doctors are warning people that if they can’t handle stress properly then severe stomach problems may ensue.

One of these stomach problems is IBD or Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This ailment, which is a chronic disease that inflames the intestines, affects as many as a million Americans a year. Now stress may not directly cause IBD but it can aggravate the body into such a state that it may have a chance to occur and even cause more damage. In fact, researchers in a Canadian study surveyed people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and found that there was no real difference in flare-ups between the people on medication and people who were not. However, they did find a difference in flare-ups between people who were stressed. People who had more flare-ups of the ailment also had more stress and reported bad moods over the period of the study. Therefore, the correlation between the mental problem of stress and the physical problem of IBD has given researchers reason to link the two.

This also goes to show the mind’s power over the body and that if stress is handled properly then people who suffer from certain stomach ailments may be able to curb the pains that are caused. Doctors go on to say that in order to avoid excessive stress people should try to be mindful of stressful situation and steer clear of them. Spending time outdoors or receiving a relaxing massage at a spa might just be a couple of ways of avoiding stomach implications.

Man Emerges From 23 Year Silence

CNN covered a story out of London about a man who communicated with family members and doctors after being in a presumed unconscious state for 23 years.  The man was originally diagnosed by doctors as being in a vegetative state.  Years later, state-of-the-art equipment was able to scan his brain and prove otherwise.  Further medical assistance triggered brain activity that allowed the man to finally communicate with doctors and family members.  As it turns out, the man was fully conscious, able to hear and understand everything that was going on around him, frustrated with his inability to respond and the misdiagnosis that he was in a vegetative state.  This has led many people to feel mixed emotions regarding the frequency that medical professionals misdiagnose patients in minimally-conscious states, especially because of the life or death decisions that are made based on these diagnoses. You can read the whole story by Mark Tutton on CNN.com.