“Stress is a state we experience when the demands that are put upon us cannot be counter balanced by our ability to deal with them.”
Richard Lazarus – University of California
Stress refers to any reaction to a physical, psychological, biological, social or chemical stimulus that up-sets the body’s homeostasis.
Stress is an integral and unavoidable part of life. Work, family, and financial concerns are common sources of stress for many. Less obvious signs are noise, solar flares, pain, temperature
fluctuations, chemical exposure, and even welcome events, such as a new job, or the birth of a child. Overwork, sleep disturbances, physical illness, excesses of alcohol etc. are all common factors that further add to the stress loads on the body.
It isn’t wise to eliminate all stress because stress facilitates and stimulates life. Stress increases our functional activity and our adaptive capacity.
It is the inability to adapt to stress that leads to imbalances in our fundamental regulatory control systems that are required to work efficiently in order to maintain homeostasis.
Some people are unaware of the adverse physiological effects of their inability to adapt to the stressors in
their lives. Others may be mentally aware that they have many stressors in their life, and may even feel that
they are not coping well, yet internally, their body may be handling stress efficiently.
Whatever the source of stress, if your body cannot adapt to meet its challenges, it can have very real physical effects. Symptoms can include: anxiety, blood sugar fluctuations, depression, fatigue, hair loss, hormonal imbalances, infections, indigestion, insomnia, light sensitivity, low body temperature, memory impairment, weight gain and difficulty losing weight. Stress produces free radicals, which weaken the mitochondria, and the result is a decline in the ability of cells to generate energy.
“Good health is ultimately dependent upon healthy mitochondria, which enable good cell communication and therefore the ability of the body to adapt to all internal and external stressors. Our evolutionary process shows that natural selection, through efficient adaptation to our ever changing environment and circumstances, is an ongoing process that, over time, produces stronger characteristics and traits”
Sheri Dixon
Mitochondria
Mitochondria are like little batteries that generate energy in our cells. Each cell can contain many thousands of mitochondria and these numbers are dependent upon the function of
each cell. For example, muscle cells require much more mitochondria to generate energy for us than the cells that are involved in our nerve transmissions. Mitochondria provide energy to the cell from a process known as cellular respiration. This process gathers electrons from elements such as glucose to make molecules of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. ATP molecules deliver just the right amount of energy for our needs. If we require more energy for our needs then the
numbers of mitochondria will be increased to match our cells requirements. Our muscles, heart, lungs and brain cannot function efficiently without cellular energy.
Our quality of life is greatly impaired without energy, whether it’s the ability to take part in physical activities, think clearly, or digest food, everything in life is energy dependent.
Many people use stimulants such as sugar or coffee in an attempt to stimulate energy. These substances may trigger the stress glands to release more hormones but the energy effects are commonly short-lived and can lead to more fatigue.
Stress and Ageing
In the 1980’s it was discovered that mitochondria were linked to free radicals with the conclusion that they were involved with the human ageing process. Free radicals are atoms with unpaired electrons and are very reactive. This free electron is unstable and can cause proteins and other essential molecules to become dysfunctional. Free radicals damage our mitochondrial DNA, cell structures and cell membranes. If preventative measures are not taken, the cell can weaken and eventually die. This process sets the stage for accelerating the human aging process, which begins at around 30 years old.
The body responds to stress in three stages.
The first stage, which we are all familiar with, is referred to as the flight or fight response. Unresolved stress may lead to the resistance stage, which can continue for months or years as the body gradually weakens due to lack of energy reserves, oxygen and nutrients. If we cannot adapt to the stress, the body can move into the exhaustion stage. The exhaustion stage may manifest as total collapse of body function, or specific organs. Prolonged stress places a heavy load on the heart,
immune system, blood vessels, hormonal glands, and inhibits ATP. Left uncorrected, the adverse effects deprive cells of essential nutrients and oxygen, which induces cells to conserve energy. The result is fatigue, impaired immune function, and an
acceleration of the ageing process, which can eventually lead to adverse symptoms of ill health.
There are many stress management strategies available that can help to support efforts to reduce, prevent and cope with the adverse symptoms of stress. These may include a change of diet, increasing exercise and sleep, relaxation techniques such as meditation as well as making changes in attitudes and lifestyle. It would seem sensible to adopt these. However, none of these modifications can evaluate, measure and address the physiological damage at the fundamental systemic level.
Mitochondrial Therapy provides a solution.
According to Prof. Baevsky, (Russian Space Medicine). “Many years of research have shown that the cardiovascular, autonomic nervous system, hypothalamus and pituitary glands
provide an amazingly accurate indicator of the response to and the ability to adapt to the combined stress factors it is subjected to.”
Mitochondrial medicine was developed by Prof. Dr. R.M. Baevsky, Prof. Dr. A.P. Berseneva and MUDr. Michael Kucera at the Institute for Bio-Medical Problems of Academy of
Sciences of Russian Federation. The Russian scientists needed to protect the Mars Project cosmonauts from the damaging effects of extended exposure to cosmic radiation.
A Kardivar HRV device was developed to measure heart rate variability. This simple, non-invasive test takes five minutes whilst relaxing. It measures the signals from the heart to the
brain and other organs. The signals are recorded in milliseconds, evaluated, and a printed report is produced.
This report provides much information indicating the internal health and efficiency of the fundamental regulatory control systems, such as the sympathetic and parasympathetic activities of the autonomic nervous system and hypothalamus. Crucially, it indicates the ability to adapt to, and react to, the sum total of all stressors that you may have been negatively influenced by. Once this information is known, the restoration of optimal mitochondrial function, through a unique supplemental
intervention against the effects of toxic stress loads, can be offered.
The regeneration process takes between 12-20 weeks on average. It supports the building of health right at the cellular level, which is altogether different to treating diseases
at the level of symptoms.
Impaired mitochondrial function is repaired. The result is more cellular energy and efficiency. Damaged protein structures responsible for protection and construction are repaired. The regulatory homeostatic controls are rebalanced. Stress no
longer raises free radical levels.
The outcome is a healthier functioning body at the systemic level and the ability to adapt to the variable stresses and loads that are an unavoidable part of all life.
Copyright (c) Sheri Dixon 2015 All Rights Reserved