Stress seems synonomous with life in the 21st century. Who doesn't feel rushed, pressured, hurried, anxious, or worried about deadlines, commitments, work, finances, or relationships. Whether from a charging lion, or a pending deadline, the stress hormones released are the same. The stress response gives us the strength and speed to ward off or flee from an impending threat, but when it persists, stress can put us at risk for many varied disease, including obesity, anxiety, depression, heart disease and even cancer.

On-the-Job Stress Causes Heart Attacks
Research confirms that healthy people with stressful jobs who work long hours but get little satisfaction from what they do have twice the risk of dying from heart disease as employees that feel fulfilled by their jobs.

Regardless of the occupation, researchers have found that workers who reported high job stress - defined as too much work as well as a lack of satisfaciton and feeling undervalued and unappreciated - were 2.2 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than workers with low job stress. Similarly, employees who felt there was a large imbalance between their job effort and reward had a 2.4-times higher risk of cardiovascular death. (British Medical Journal 2002;325:857-860)

Women under high levels of stress are 2.28 times more likely to suffer from heart disease, 2.24 times more likely to suffer a stroke and 1.64 times more likely to die of a heart attack, according to the study. (Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Aug. 13, 2002)

Marriage Stress
Among couples who seem the most hostile during discussion of marital troubles, three stress hormones - Epinephrine (better known as adrenalin), Norepinephrine and ACTH - rise considerably in the blood samples. These three stress hormones have been shown to be consistently and significantly elevated in couples who later divorced.

That's significant because those hormones are known as immune inhibitors, meaning they "down regulate" the immune system. That, in turn, could leave the person more vulnerable to disease.

"If those hormones stay up, you're probably going to have higher blood pressure, higher heart rate, and it's not good for your body," says Dr. Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, lead author of a recent study on stress in marriage and professor of psychiatry at Ohio State University. The elevated hormone level didn't just appear in the blood drawn during the discussion of marital problems and it was also found in samples taken much later, even those drawn while the participants were asleep. (Psychol Bull 2001 Jul;127(4):472-503)

The production of stress hormones was far greater among the women than the men. "The women produced more hormones than the men because women notice hostility a lot more," Dr Kiecolt-Glaser adds. "They are much more attuned to the quality of the relationship. Men just don't even see a lot of the negativity or hostility that women see."

So what does all this tell us? Did hormones destroy the marriages? No. Stress hormones do not destroy marriages, but stressful relationships can destroy your marriage as well as your health. Thoughts and emotions are powerful things. Anxiety and worry about daily events and relationships produces stress hormones that continue to wash through your body at high levels for days and can have a hazardous, or even lethal effect.

Stress Ups Risk of Catching a Cold and Cancer
People who see the proverbial glass as half empty may be nearly four times more likely than their optimistic peers to come down with a cold, study findings suggest. According to research, psychological stress, particularly the chronic type, is a risk factor for colds. An optimistic outlook and outgoing personality seemed to protect individuals. (Epidemiology 2001;11:345-349)

While the common cold is rarely serious, it can be blamed for about 30 million days of lost work in the US each year, the study authors explain. Individuals with a negative outlook were at greatest risk of developing colds regardless of their use of vitamin C and zinc, and their smoking and drinking habits. Those at next highest risk were individuals who believed that they were under stress. These people were nearly three times as likely to develop a cold, the report indicates.

Psychological stress can take a toll on the immune system by raising stress hormones that suppress the immune system, including immune cells that help to ward off infections and cancer. Additionally, individuals who are under stress are also more prone to behaviors that can make them vulnerable to disease, such as smoking, consuming alcohol, eating too much of the wrong things and forgoing exercise.

Lasting Stress Effects
Even relatively short periods of stress may cause changes that leave brain cells hypersensitive for weeks, according to new research trying to uncover the molecular root of post-traumatic stress disorder. Stress hormones can make you more alert and your muscles and nerves primed for action, but, chronic, cumulative or traumatic stress may cause long-lasting harmful effects (Science 2002 Jan 18;295(5554):508-12)

Laughing Matters
A funny movie, or joking around with friends, on the other hand, is known to reduce stress. Recent research has found that people who laugh more often are less likely to have heart attacks. Watching a funny video, or just laughing at a joke, can make healthful changes in the levels of hormones involved in stress and lower high blood pressure and other indicators of ill health. (Altern Ther Health Med. 2001 Mar;7(2):62-72, 74-6) .

The first studies of the effect of humor on the body were conducted in the United States in the 1930s. But it wasn't until 1979 that humor research began in earnest. That's when Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins countered a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and potentially crippling arthritis, with a combination of mainstream medicine and large doses of humor.

Cousins watched videos of Candid Camera , as well as Marx Brothers and Three Stooges films. Although his doctors had given him little chance of recovery, within 8 days his pain began to subside, and he returned to work. He documented his recovery in the book Anatomy of an Illness and founded the Humor Research Task Force.

Laughter Therapy
Cousins' experience spawned a wealth of humor research. Some of the most intriguing findings include those of studies conducted at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California, which found that laughter stimulates the immune system. Students who watched funny videos had a significant increase in T cells and natural killer cells, both of which fight off diseases. They also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their blood (Am J Med Sci 1989 Dec;298(6):390-6)

There's more. A yearlong study by the Oakhurst Health Research Institute of 240 people who had had heart attacks found that those who spent 30 minutes a day chortling at comedy videos were less likely to have a second heart attack.

Just Thinking About Laughing Eases Stress
A new study conducted at the University of California Irvine has revealed that just anticipating a happy or funny event can lower production of stress hormones and raise levels of endorphins and other pleasure and relaxation-inducing hormones (Society for Neuroscience, 2002 Nov)

The new study shows that just knowing you will be involved in a positive humorous event days in advance reduces levels of stress hormones in the blood. When the study participants watched a funny video, levels of the stress hormone Cortisol fell 39%, the anxiety hormone Epinephrine, also known as Adrenaline, fell 70%, while levels of the feel-good hormone Endorphin rose 27% and anti-aging hormone HGH (Human Growth Hormone) levels rose by 87%.

This all suggests that anticipation of a funny event can lower stress, stimulate the immune system and extend longevity. Dr. Lee Berk and colleagues have shown for the first time that mere anticipation of having fun has similar effects. "You have been thinking about it all day, so you experience a change in biology even before you get there," Berk said. "That is therapeutic." The finding strengthens the advice that everyone lighten up a little to live longer. "Anticipation is half or two-thirds the fun," Berk said.