Blog Image 5 StressAt Cardiac Monitoring Service, we know that life can get very stressful at times.  If your body experiences too much stress without periods of breaks and relaxation, this can in fact be detrimental to the health of your body.

What is stress?  In layman’s terms, stress is your body’s response to a change.  That can include anything and it is also when the body’s “fight or flight” response gets triggered.  If you have ever noticed your stress levels rising, your adrenaline pumping through your body, and your heart rate increase, you are in a stressful situation.

Some of the negative effects of stress include anxiety, depression, and heart disease.  Anxiety makes your body and heart work harder.  When you feel stressed out, your body releases fatty acids and glucose into the bloodstream. In turn, these can translate into deposits of cholesterol and fat, which can hinder the blood flow to and from your heart.

Another side effect of increased stress is that people pick up extremely bad habits such as drugs, alcohol, smoking, and much more.  Here at Cardiac Monitoring Service, we can cite studies all day long but most reasonable people understand that partaking in any of these activities will damage their bodies in several ways.  For instance, smoking can lead to different forms of cancer, most common one being lung cancer.  Caffeinated drinks and drugs can also lead to heart issues. Combine any of these activities and you are literally stressing your heart out.

What are some things that you can indulge in to relieve stress and to lead your body into repairing itself?  Well, Cardiac Monitoring Service suggests you start slowly but incorporate a few of the changes that we are about to list here.

The first thing you can do is to determine the cause of your stress.  For example, if the source of your stress is mental anguish, as in fighting or arguing with your family or partner, you may consider seeking counseling. Additionally, if it is an option, become more aware of a situation on the rise and remove yourself from it before you work yourself up.

While cliche, exercising reduces stress and anxiety in the long haul.  When you exercise, you are relieving stress in a controlled way, in a natural and healthy way as your body is designed to.  If you exercise 30 minutes to an hour 5-7 days a week, you are releasing pent up energy and emotions that will leave you feeling de-stressed for the rest of the day.  Not to mention, this makes your heart muscle stronger!

Lastly, beyond exercise, you should spend an hour a day mindfully relaxing.  Think about what activities you enjoy: piecing a puzzle together, chess, interacting with friends, painting, drawing, sitting at the park.  Whatever it happens to be, it is extremely important to give yourself breathing room so your body can relax in its natural state.

As a premier provider of holter monitors and cardiac event monitors, Cardiac Monitoring Service has a vested interest in your heart health! We hope that you have found this information useful, and we hope that you will reduce your stress levels as a result.

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