Stress In The Baboons

This analysis persists of key points, about The article “Stress and the brain by Janet Elder”. The author forged an excellent informative piece to educate the reader on the effects of stress on the brain. The author states that “Stress can be both good and bad. It is part of life, and your brain and body respond to it”. The author clarifies that, "Whether stress is harmful or helpful depends on the amount of stress, how severe it is, and how long it lasts".

Stress is very well known for just what it means: STRESS. Its effect on human beings from a local and a global standpoint is far greater than any of us imagine. Stress can overtake one’s body physically, mentally, emotionally, as well as behavioral aspects. This is not something to take lightly. This is actually very serious. If you notice, it’s not just older people that die this day and time with heart attacks, suicide, and things of this nature. People of all ages. Older people, younger people, and even really young people. Children, yes, I said children. Don’t automatically think that stress only affects older people that have lived a longer

The Science of Stress is an informative video by National Geographic detailing the body response to stress. Stress is the body’s way of getting itself prepared to face a challenge. It is constant problem that everyone has to deal with. It was originally meant to aid our survival, but over time it has become dangerous and lethal to our well being. National Geographic’s video gives us a scientific view of what goes on in our bodies when experiencing stress and its effects on it.

Stress Is the body’s way of responding to the hectic lives most of us live, whether good or bad. The body releases chemicals into the bloodstream, which creates a rush of energy and strength If an individual is feeling stressed. This energy can prove useful if an individual is in physical danger. Because it enables a person’s survival instinct kicks in; it is often described as ‘fight or flight.’ In addition, stress can also have a negative effect on the body, for example: suffering from stress and leaving it unchecked can contribute to health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers is a book about the physiology of stress. It gets into great detail about what exactly is going on inside the body during periods of high stress, and also what short and long term affects are caused by that stress. The first chapter give a brief description of each chapter in the rest of the book. Each subsequent chapter explains different stressors, levels of stress, and hormonal responses to stress. Many of the chapters also include research and discoveries on how stress affects the human body, many of which are somewhat recent discoveries, only occurring in the last one hundred years or so. Robert Sapolsky is able to explain to his readers much about the physiology of stress and how endocrinology plays the most

The documentary, Stress, Portrait of a Killer, examined how stress is known to kill, yet humans still believe they are invincible. Dr. Robert Sapolsky studied primates in Africa in order to learn about what effects stress has on the body. Interestingly, he found that the baboons who were considered to have a higher rank actually had lower stress hormones in their blood. Conversely, the baboons who were considered to be low rankers actually had elevated stress hormones, increased heart rate, and a higher blood pressure—all of which lead to deteriorating health. Furthermore, the documentary uncovered that weigh and weight distribution is directly related to stress which is unfortunate because the more weight you gain, the more you stress! More

The video “Stress Portrait of a Killer” was enlightening. The correlation between each individual’s placement in the hierarchy and their level of stress was not surprising. In fact, it made a great deal of sense. When one is on the lower end of the spectrum, it is a reasonable to anticipate higher levels of stress than when one is at the higher end. The latter, has more control over what is happening in their lives which in turn eliminates that stress. What I found most interesting, is that stress lowers the body’s immunity. I had no idea that the brain cuts non-essential systems like the immune system when stress is present. I found this fact fascinating and rather concerning. For as long as I can remember, I have been very susceptible to

Swanson, Ana. A Stressful Workplace could take 33 Years off your life expectancy, study finds. Independent. (2015). Retrieved from

Stress has been linked to hypertension, heart attacks, diabetes, asthma, chronic pain, allegeries, headaches, skin disorders, cancer, immune system weakness and decrease blood count (Cummings et al, 2005). It has also been linked to an increase risk of alcoholism and drug use. High levels of stress can lead to higher absenteeism, larger staff turnover and low productivity. The symptoms are evident in the quantitative data, with an

capabilities, resulting in biopsychological charges that may make him/her of risk for disease. Effects may vary from one person to another. (Niabi; H. et. al., 2013)

Stress can cause our arteries to shrink and begin to restrict blood flow which gives us health problems. As well as high blood pressure which can at some point lead to death. But, this wasn’t just found in living people going through stress. It was found that babies who were conceived during the Dutch Hunger Winter had higher rates of cardiovascular disease than others. The reasoning is that the release of the stress hormone while a fetus, exposing them to the hormone that early and in large quantities led to this health

Studies have suggested work stress levels peak at age 50-55 years (Work Stress Peaks During Middle Age, 2015). Stress is usually handled by one of two ways – effective coping which leads to healthy lifestyle choices and stress response which usually leads to negative health factors (Depp & Jeste, 2010) like smoking, sleeping less, drinking more alcohol and developing poor nutrition habits. Stress is also found to enable developing of illnesses like Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and diabetes (Alzheimer's Society, 2015).

In the documentary Stress: Portrait of a Killer, neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky explores the drastic effects of stress on your body and brain. Sapolsky shows how sustained, excessive stress causes not only mental deterioration but also compromises the immune system and consequently your ability to fight off diseases. Sapolsky has studied wild baboons in Kenya for over a decade and has made several groundbreaking discoveries about the correlation of stress and overall health. By monitoring baboon behavior and analyzing their hormone levels, Sapolsky has found that high stressed baboons have higher levels of adrenalin and glucocorticoids. Interestingly enough, Sapolsky also discovered that social hierarchy had a direct correlation to the amount of stress

It is one thing to want to get a rush of adrenaline from riding a rollercoaster but another thing to be bogged down by loads of paper work, deadlines, and constant worry. In the film “Stress, Portrait of a Killer” a researcher shows exactly how stress can lead to an unhappy/unhealthy lifestyle resulting in a quicker death. This film focuses on showing the impact stress on the body. Dr. Sapolsky studies baboons for over 20 years and with careful research shows how stress causes weight gain and even unravel your chromosomes. He points out that stress is not only affecting the human race but also baboons and other animals. A key finding discussed in the film is how hierarchy/social rank has a relationship with stress level. Being lower on the

Firstly, it is well known that long term stress has detrimental effects on the body, and the mind. One study published this year showed a possible link between cortisol, the stress hormone, and depression (Jin, et al. 2016). Another literature review published this year linked stress with increased risk of developing several mental and physical conditions, like certain cancers, arthritis, mood and