Family upheaval causes stress induced physical probelms in adoelscents

A study in the journal Developmental Psychology, says family turmoil and violence causes stress-induced physical problems in adolescents.

The presence of a responsive, supportive mother, however, appears to reduce the negative physiological changes. This study is the first to look at how maternal responsiveness may protect against cumulative risk.

The findings suggest the physiological toll of coping with multiple stress events is significantly greater than with that of coping with a single event.

The researchers used an index called "allostatic load" to measure stress-induced changes in neuroendocrine hormonal systems, cardiovascular responses and metabolism, which indicate the severity of wear and tear on organs and tissues, the university said.

Bereaved Children Of 9/11 Victims Suffered High Rates Of Psychiatric Illness

The rate of psychiatric illness among children who lost a parent in the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack doubled -- from about 32 to nearly 73 percent -- in the years following the event, according to a new study in the journal Biological Psychiatry. The study was conducted by researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

More than half (56.8 percent) of the young children studied suffered from some sort of anxiety disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affected nearly three in 10 bereaved children.

Some highlights:

• More than half (56.8 percent) of the young children studied suffered from some sort of anxiety disorder
• 3 out of 10 children in this bereaved groups were positive for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• heightened activity of the brain's "stress-response system" in many children who lost a parent on 9/11
• Continued activation of this system can lead to long-term hypersensitivity to stress as adults and even impact on bone health, since the stress hormone cortisol can harm bone.
• PTSD rates were 10 times that seen in non-bereaved children
• 27.3 percent of bereaved youngsters suffered from separation anxiety, double the rate seen in non-bereaved youngsters
• 25 percent experienced generalized anxiety, double the rate seen in non-bereaved youngsters
• rates of simple phobias in bereaved children was also double that of non-bereaved children (13.6 percent vs. 5.9 percent).
• rates of major depressive disorder in bereaved children was twice that of non-bereaved children -- 13.6 percent compared to 5.9 percent, respectively
• the researchers conducted saliva analysis and idenitfied elevated cortisol levels in many bereaved children throughout the two-year study. That suggests that the HPA axis remained switched on at a relatively high level
• chronic HPA activation in childhood may make individuals hypersensitive to stressors throughout their lifespan. Chronically elevated cortisol levels can also negatively impact bone health and boost risks for insulin-related dysfunction.

Physiological Roots for Emotional Eating

I guess that the last few posts have dealt with eating issues and pathology, so I guess that this one is no exception - this posting and this link merely highlight the fact that the emotional eating of "comfort foods" is physiologically based (keep in mind that the link is a summary of previous research articles and not an actual study). The process follows this course:

1. When the body starts to feel stress, certain hormones like cortisol are released.
2. It's those hormones that then make comfort foods actually taste better, sparking cravings.
3. It is the fatty foods and the sugar-laden foods that tend to help lower those stress hormones, only temporarily. This represents an inappropriate, inadequate response to stress, as it is very short term.
4. Individuals with excess belly fat have an exaggerated response to cortisol which may be why it's difficult for some to lose that weight in the midsection.
5. Researchers have also found that exercise, meditation, and massage can be useful in a weight-loss strategy because they keep stress levels from peaking which keeps people out of the junk food.

Technorati tags: eating disorders, obesity, stress