In a world where challenges are the order of the day, stress is bound to be present. Stress is an everyday fact of life. You can t avoid it, was written in 1982 by one of the many researchers on stress. Stress is a type of alarm reaction, which creates a heightened state of readiness both mentally and physically. It is a psychological as well as a physiological response to the environment.

The brain produces a stress reaction when you are in a situation that is physically or mentally demanding. Stress is normal. Some stress is good for you as it keeps you alert and protects you in times of danger or when you need to act or think quickly. For example, physical training to keep fit places stress on your body, but that stress has a beneficial effect provided you don’t overdo it. Feeling a bit stressed about impending examinations is normal. It usually helps to focus your energy into revising well.

Prolonged and unwanted stress, however, may lead to mental and physical ill-health. Stress cuts across class, age and gender. Its evolving complexity makes it a relevant subject to be addressed urgently today more than ever before. Current estimates show that about 80% of diseases treated in hospitals have a component of stress.

The first thing that happens when we are under stress is a part of our brain, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, HPA system is activated. This recognizes the stress as danger and pumps out neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine/adrenaline. These chemicals prepare the body to respond to the perceived danger. One of two things will happen. Either we tackle the source of the stress, usually a wild animal or an invading human, and fight it, or we run away. This is called the fight or flight syndrome. This syndrome is what is responsible for heroic and almost superhuman efforts in times of crisis, such as when someone lifts the front of an automobile off of an injured person after an accident. We can’t produce complex intellectual responses to stress; we just react. At that point in time, all non-essential body systems are shut down so that the body can react to the stress.

The chemicals released by the body prepare it for dealing with stressful events such as giving a speech, aiding an accident victim, or fighting or fleeing from attack. However, if the stress becomes chronic or out of proportion, this healthy response can become pathological. Some of us commonly live under a constant state of stress, continually triggering the stress response and depleting valuable reserves of energy and essential minerals and vitamins in the process. Those who surpass individual limits of stress suffer the consequences.

Having defined what stress is and the sort of response the body makes, we are going to use the rest of this article to focus on various types of stress-related disorders. Although stress can come from outside sources like a demanding boss or work schedule, a hurricane or heavy traffic, there are also internal sources of worry like perfectionism, disease, a difficult spouse, and/or spiraling debt which affects our bodies both physically and emotionally. When we experience stress, the body responds whether we want it to or not.

Various research studies acknowledge that stress is a major contributing factor to cardiovascular disorders like hypertension. The release of stress hormones like Cortisol increases blood pressure which in turn damages the wall of the blood vessels. These hormones may also cause faults in fatty acid metabolism which building up over time may cause narrowing of blood vessels. This makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood through them.

Other stress mediated cardiovascular events include palpitations and stroke. The activity of the adrenal glands is crucial to your mood, energy levels and ability to cope with stress. In extreme cases of stress your adrenal glands may become enlarged; the spleen and thymus glands may shrink and deep bleeding stomach ulcers may occur. Stress is also known for causing other gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome and also plays a role in causing some respiratory disorders. An example here is the feeling of suffocation by asthmatic patients when under stress. Stress is also alleged to be a factor in the development of cancer. In fact, recent research shows that there is a moderate correlation between exposure to life stressors and cancer; the more stressors, the higher the likelihood of cancer.

Some recent research suggests that stress smothers the activity of the immune system making one susceptible to infections. Students stressed by the death of a parent or a recent divorce have been found to have reduced immunity in comparison with their counterparts. Autoimmune disorders with stress factors include allergies and arthritis among others Stress has also been shown to influence mental health. Individuals harboring stress may be socially withdrawn, mentally unstable, have attention deficit, memory lapses, migraines and in extreme cases severe anxiety, depression, or other mental problems.

Another category of disorders caused by stress is the addictive disorder. This includes multiple substance abuse (alcohol, cigarettes and drug addiction), eating disorders or obesity.

It is important to have support systems that ensure that we do not fall prey to the ravages of stress. However, each person should also be vigilant to situations that may engender stress and try to avoid them. In the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.

Child health and development is a very important aspect that all parents need to have a fair idea about.

It is a fact that an infant cannot say anything before a certain age. Therefore, you must be careful about the health as well as all-round development of your baby especially during this period.

In this article, we would like to concentrate on the important features of the child health development that mark the first six months or so after your baby is born.

It is true that the development of your baby depends mostly on his health. If he is healthy, it will help him cope with the world with ease. He will also be able to pick up things fast. Doctors generally say that you need to take care of your baby’s physical health and mental health.

A baby can turn into a well-matured adult if he is physically and mentally strong from childhood. Therefore, you need to take care of your infant. The development of your baby’s brain starts when you carry him in the womb. Complete development of the nervous system, hearing system, and vision also takes their due time.

He can also differentiate the tastes of different foods. Child health and development process starts from the day your baby sees the new world. During the first 6 months, your baby responds if someone calls him by his name. He turns his head and eyes as a response to the call. He can differentiate between the voices as well. If the tone of your voice is angry, he can feel it and if it is friendly, he can also sense that accordingly and can differentiate between the two tones.

If you do not take care of your infant, it will be a great risk for him in future. You need to feed him well and you need to keep him clean and dry.

There lies a close interrelation between child health and development and you need to be quite familiar with these. You can ask any doctor for some able assistance if you think that you do not know how to take care of your baby properly.

The mental health of your child depends on your treatment that you offer him. For instance, doctors say that breast milk is ideal for babies and this can provide the appropriate diet to your baby.

When your baby is at of age of 3 to 6 months, you can notice certain changes in him. It is the early stage when your baby tries to cope with the world. He responds to facial expressions and can differentiate a high pitch and a low pitch sound. You need to follow the right child health and development process for your baby.

There are statistics to show that there is great evidence that non infectious diseases are quite a big cause of death. It is possible to get a non infectious disease though inherited means. It is not possible to catch a non infectious disease so that is a good thing.

Other ways non infectious diseases can be caught is by living unhealthy and having an unhealthy diet. It is also possible to get a non infectious disease thought natural aging.

There are a number of different illnesses that can be inherited. There are some illnesses that can start as early as at birth, the common term for these are congenital, but these types of illness are not usually noticed until a person gets older in life.

It has been calculated that there are up to 200 babies that are born, which will have a damaged or even a missing chromosome. Missing a chromosome in some cases can be the cause of illnesses such as down syndrome, so can be quite serious in some cases. A missing chromosome can even cause a rare mental handicap condition, which can also include a cat like cry, because of a of the ability to only develop a small larynx.

There are a number of disease that can be inherited because of genes, such as albinism, hemophilia, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis. If these are not looked at early some may even develop into something more serious. such as brain damage. Fortunately because of this babies are usually tested routinely, and if anything is wrong the baby can be treated by modifying there diet.