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Effect of stress on health
Effect of stress on health
Effect of stress on health
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Recommended: Effect of stress on health
Erin Tattam
76760
Stress response and health breakdown- 277
Amanda Higginbottom
Assessment 2: Short answer essay- Betty
Due 14th February 2016
Part A
Pain is recognised as a stressor and therefore initiates a stress response. Betty is experiencing multiple potential causes of pain including nociceptive visceral and somatic pain. Each type of pain travels via a specific pain pathway, initiating processes in which her pain will act as a stressor. Timely and appropriate treatment of pain is essential as unrelieved pain can heighten the response of stress axis.
Chest pain is caused by numerous clinical conditions. ACS is inclusive of unstable angina, non- ST-segment myocardial infarction and ST- segment elevation myocardial infarction (Linden 2013). This category of chest pain is identified as acute pain due to its overall duration of less than a three month period (Briggs, E 2010). Chest pain as stimuli for noxious receptors, therefore ACS is furthermore classified as nociceptive visceral pain (Marieb & Hoehn 2013). Pain from the heart muscle can be referred to other areas, sensations from a body part such as the arm travel the same pathway as noxious stimuli, this is known as referred pain (ACN 2016, p19).
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These conditions similarly to ACS may be potential causes of Betty’s chest pain. Betty has known peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and cellulitis. They are both nociceptive somatic pain. Somatic pain associated with cellulitis originate from the skins surface and underlying tissues (DeWit & Kumargi
A. Chronic pain signifies a developing public health issue of huge magnitudes, mainly in view of aging populations in developed countries (Russo).
What exactly is pain? According to Webster's dictionary, pain is "physical suffering typically from injury or illness; a distressing sensation in a part of the body; severe mental or emotional distress". Most everyone reading this paper has experienced some form of physical pain at some point during their lives; most everyone has even experienced the common daily pains such as stubbing our toe as we walk through the living room, accidentally biting our tongue as we chew, and having the afternoon headache after a long day of work. No matter the fact that it is unpleasant, pain has a very important role in telling the body that something is not right and leading to behavior that will remove the body from a source of potential injury. Imagine if we could not experience pain. We would not be able to change our behavior in any way when touching the burning hot dish in the oven, resulting in potentially serious burns. We could not recognize that perhaps we twisted an ankle when walking down the stairs, thus continued walking on that foot would exacerbate the injury to the point of not being able to walk at all. Indeed, pain is not pleasant, but in many cases it is an important way for our nervous system to learn from and react to the environment.
Although gross medical advancements have allowed the human population to live longer and fuller lives without the threat of death from infectious diseases, it is apparent that we are now dealing with a different phenomenon that may be just as harmful to our health. The impact of psychological, social and environmental factors from our daily lives is having a drastic impression on the mental and physical wellbeing of our society. It has been shown in various studies that psychological and neurological factors influence the immune system and can have an effect on our health (Breedlove, Rosenzweig & Watson, 2010). As we allow various stressors, poisonous substances, unhealthy diets and lack of rest to overwhelm our existence, we are inevitably shortening our life span and killing our bodies.
Nociception Pain is possibly the most unpleasant sensation our senses can detect. Even though we typically fail to remember what pain feels like when we are not experiencing it, we certainly do not wish to experience pain. Despite pain's unpleasantness, it has to be appreciated for what it is. Namely, a mechanism that allows us to avoid dangerous situations, prevent further damage, and promote the healing process. Pain allows us to remove ourselves from dangerous situations, as we attempt to move away from noxious stimuli that cause pain.
Active trigger points are considered tender, painful, and symptomatic with pain at rest and during motion. There are two common reactions seen in patients when palpating active ...
Pain: stress can cause pain because the body stimulates the muscles while fighting the stressor. Stress also causes migraines which can last for several days.
In a pain assessment, the pain is always subjective, in a verbal patient; pain is what the patient says that it is. Nurses must be able to recognize non verbal signs of pain such as elevated pulse, elevated blood pressure, grimacing, rocking, guarding, all of which are signs of pain (Jensen, 2011). A patient’s ethnicity may have a major influence on their meaning of pain and how it is evaluated and responded to behaviorally as well as emotionally (Campbell, & Edwards 2012). A patient may not feel that their pain is acceptable and they do not want to show that they are in pain. For some people, showing pain indicates that they are weak. Other patients will hide their pain as they do not want to be seen as a bother or be seen as a difficult patient.
Nociceptors are cutaneous and subcutaneous receptors specialized for the detection of noxious stimuli (Latremoliere & Woolf, 2009). Nociception is considered a protective process designed to help prevent injury by producing a withdrawal reflex from the stimulus and by generating an unpleasant sensation resulting in behavioral strategies to avoid further contact with the stimuli (Latremoliere & Woolf, 2009). Pain can be divided into nociceptive pain or neuropathic pain since each type of pain has a different mechanism. Nociceptive pain results from direct activation of pain nerve fibers from inflammatory, mechanical or chemical mediators, whereas neuropathic pain generally refers to pain that is initiated or sustained by a primary lesion or
It is also worth remembering and taking into account that pain itself is not necessarily a physical event rather the brains response to an event and that sometimes a client’s pain may not be a sign of a physical injury but rather a pshycological
and the way we feel we are able to cope with things. If we cannot cope
There are two main types of pain that are described in the next
1)This paper reflects the research and thoughts of a student at the time the paper was written for a course at Bryn Mawr College. Like other materials on Serendip, it is not intended to be "authoritative" but rather to help others further develop their own explorations. Web links were active as of the time the paper was posted but are not updated.
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
Everyone experiences stress daily. It may not be as evident in some people as it is in othesr, but that is due to the severity of the stress and how well an individual can cope with stress. High levels of stress cause an individual’s personality to change in that when one is stressed out, that person cannot stop thinking about situations or feelings which in turn causes mood swings, depression and insomnia.
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.