Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Stress as determinant of health
Stress as determinant of health
Stress as determinant of health
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“All of us have a personal relationship with stress, but few of us know how it affects us.” In the film “Stress- Portrait of a Killer” by National Geographic, Robert Sapolsky is researching baboon’s to find a link in stress and potential health risks in humans, Carol Shively is also researching macaques for that reason. Sapolsky is an american neuroendocrinologist that went to Africa “on a hunch” to study non-human subjects to test his theory, this experiment actually got Robert Sapolsky “MacArthur Foundations Genius Fellowship”. He did this by darting the baboons with anesthetic to put them to sleep, to make for easier blood samples. In the samples Sapolsky is measuring the levels of stress hormones found in the blood, he devoted thirty years of his life to this study with the help of his wife Lisa Sapolsky. This experiment relates to sociologic analysis, because Sapolsky’s study happens to draw a conclusion between economic activities and how it genuinely affects the quality of life. Some of the sociological themes we’ll be discussing are how “stress impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible”. Theory: A general statement about some parts of the world that fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related …show more content…
Some of the more important ones being, how important stress management is and that stress takes not only a toll on your mental state but also your body as well. Another thing was how dangerous stress actually can be and some of the ways it can affect you drastically. Robert Sapolsky also enlightened me on the fact that primates in the wild are also stressed, and not just about being eaten or eating but also by social heirchy as well. Social or psychological stress whether it is a macaque, human or baboon..can clog our arteries, restrict blood for and jeopardize the health of our
Dr. Sapolsky chose to study baboons in Kenya because they perfectly represent a lot of Westernized stress-related diseases. They are not stressed about survival; they are stressed by the interaction with the other baboon. In other words, their society is just like humans’. To measure the physiological system of stress on the baboon, Dr. Sapolsky chose to use a blow gun to shot the baboon with an anesthetic because it is almost silent. The baboon should not be aware of human activities around them so they don’t go into the flight and fight response when the researchers want to measure a baseline physiological condition. Once the baboon is anesthetized, he would draw some blood sample to measure the level of hormones central to stress response- adrenaline (epinephrine) and glucocorticoids.
Therefore, prolonged stress included adverse psychological and physical health effects as well as the increased risk of premature death (Denollet, J., et al.
Thousands of years ago, our ancestors were focused on surviving. Whether that meant from a horrible disease, a lion, or starvation. In today’s world, we happily do not have to worry about those things. We thank modern medicine, separation of dangerous wildlife from our homes, and grocery stores one every corner stocked to the brim. Many things have changed since then, but one thing that has existed since the existence of animals, stress.
Jones, F, Bright, J, Clow, A (2001). Stress: myth, theory and research. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. p. 10.
During my viewing of Stress: Portrait of a Killer, I was astonished by how social ranking in one’s community/world, specifically within baboons, can have such a tremendous impact on stress in a positive or negative manner. I have read a lot of literature about the impact of stress on humans, but the research conducted by Robert Sapolsky on baboons citing how aggressive, dominant males within a baboon troop showed lower stress levels compared to submissive and lower social ranking baboons, who showed considerable increases in their level of stress, was truly amazing. If there is one thing that, prior to this video, that I nor the public were aware of about stress would be the wide-ranging effects high stress levels can have on not only the body
In science, a theory will refer to an explanation of an important feature of the world supported by testing and facts that have been gathered over time. It’s there scientific theories that allow scientists to make predictions about untested and unobserved concurrences in the world. The American Association for the Advancement of Science has this explanation of what a theory means to those in the science field, and it is as follows, “A scientific theory is a well substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts......Such fact supported theories are not guesses but reliable accounts of the real
It’s not a big surprise that stress is a factor in heath, the phrase “stress will kill you” is used often enough that people get the concept quite well. However most ignore the common warning signs of high level stresses leading to endless health issues, breaking down the quality of life. In the movie “Stress of a Portrait killer”, focuses on living and work environments capable of increasing stress levels effecting health. The study by a researcher in Holland linked stress induction during fetal life from people born during the Dutch Holland Winter of 1944. Her study results concluded, during pregnancy when the mothers were exposed to high levels of stress, the fetus was negatively affected in levels that lasted throughout their lives. The
There are many definitions to theory. According to Akers (2009) “theories are tentative answers to the commonly asked questions about events and behavior” (Akers, (2009, p. 1). Theory is a set of interconnect statements that explain how two or more things are related in two casual fashions, based upon a confirmed hypotheses and established multiple times by disconnected groups of researchers.
To a great extent, stress can be a helpful response, especially for prehistoric humans. During this era, our species needed to react quickly to outside stimuli through a response of “fight or flight”. Through stress, certain hormones are released to help the individual resist the stressor, which may have meant running away from a natural predator. Thus, stress is a positive response that ensures the survival of the species. However, stress over a prolonged period of time causes exhaustion in the individual. Consequently, although stress can be helpful for individuals today, many often experience chronic stress, inflicting varying degrees of damage to their bodies.
What I learned in the documentary is that there is a link between stress and social hierarchy. People who were lower in rank, also known as subordinates, are more prone to stress than people higher in rank. Subordinates are more likely to have a cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and are more likely to be overweight. The baboon experiment revealed that dominant baboons had clean arteries compared to the subordinates. The subordinate baboons had bad arteries and were more likely to be overweight. Also, dominant baboons had more dopamine than the subordinates. When you have less dopamine you lose interest and are less likely to be pleased with life.
A theory is basically a way to describe the essence of things. It involves careful consideration over what, how and why things come to be, how they work, and any interrelationship shared among other human realities. Theories seek to explain what the observer witnesses through thorough examination and thoughtful contemplation over matters some simple and some more complex (Akers, & Sellers, 2013). There is a distinct difference between ideas, thoughts and scientific theories and the essential component is what C. Wright Mills calls the sociological imagination (1959). It is important for intellectual thought to move from individual experience to a social standpoint, this shift the perspective from internal to external, becomi...
Stress is a condition that affects both genders and all age groups. It is a condition that is inevitable to live without in our society. However, the human race has exhausted the use of stress. Originally, stress initial purpose was to actually save us from life threatening situations. For example, when an animal senses a predator or comes into contact with it. The animal triggers its stress response, allowing the animal to burst into energy and trying to get away from the predator. Once the predator the animals' stress levels for example a zebra’s stress levels go down and return to normal. However, that is sadly not the case for humans who can't seem to shut off their stress response, but only know how to trigger it. Therefore, our high
12.) Theory - is a system of ideas to explain how a certain situation or event might have came about.
Basically, we all know and understand that stress is bad for us. However, it is a natural state of the body, which is a good thing itself when present in small quantities....
Stress is defined as “any circumstance that threatens or is perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities” (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 72). Stress is a natural event that exists literally in all areas of one’s life. It can be embedded in the environment, culture, or perception of an event or idea. Stress is a constant burden, and can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. However, stress can also provide beneficial effects; it can satisfy one’s need for stimulation and challenge, promote personal growth, and can provide an individual with the tools to cope with, and be less affected by tomorrow’s stress (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 93).