Unemployed more susceptible to stress-prompted illness If you've ever said, "Man, this stress is killing me," you could be more right than you know - especially if you're one of the millions who have lost their jobs recently. According to a study by Kate W. Strully of the State University of New York at Albany, people who lose their job are twice as likely as employed people to develop a new malady such as diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure. Strully and her team used statistics about health and employment compiled by the Panel Study of Income Dynamics at the University of Michigan. This data surveyed more than 8,000 people every other year from 1999 to 2003. Of the people who lost their job "through no fault of their own" (in other words, because they were laid off), 10 percent developed a new health condition in the year and a half following their job loss. But here's the interesting part… the study also found that the increased risk of those ailments is just as high for those in another stressful situation that is the polar opposite of job loss: starting a new job. So whether you've lost your job or not, there's an important point to take away from this study. Stress in general - no matter what the cause - can have an extremely negative effect on your health. Next time you find your blood pressure rising, try one of these… 4 tips for battling stress They won't make stress go away, and they're not exactly the equivalent of a two-week Mediterranean cruise, but they'll help. GET ANGRY When you bottle things up, you're just adding to the pile of cumulative stress. I'm not saying you need to flip out and scream at everyone around you, but when the going gets tough, it doesn't mean that you should just nod quietly and accept your bad luck. By asserting yourself and your opinion without losing control, you're actually venting stress. SHIFT YOUR FOCUS Get a hobby, or don't be shy about throwing yourself into the one that you already have. By concentrating your mind on the thing that brings you the most joy, you're actually sloughing off stress, and giving your mind and body the time to recover. It's like a mini- vacation. PUT THE CLOCK TO WORK FOR YOU Nothing's more stressful than a deadline, and it only gets worse the closer it gets. If you can turn yourself in a better time manager, even the biggest project can be tackled with less stress. LAUGH OR CRY Yup, another cliché. But like so many, it's true. Both laughing and crying are enormously effective ways to vent stress. Emotions are there for a reason: use them. Bottling them up leads to more stress. I know the drug companies would love for you to believe the popping a pain pill will make you live forever, but it's all a load of hooey. Painkillers like naproxen and ibuprofen might temporarily ease the pain of arthritis or a headache, but they won't cure any diseases - and they won't prevent any disease, either. Contrary to previous research, which claimed popping a daily regimen of painkillers such as naproxen and ibuprofen could ward off dementia, a new study shows that just the opposite could be true. According to Dr. Eric B. Larson of Seattle's Group Health Center for Health Studies, it's perfectly fine to take painkillers for pain. But, he says, "If people are thinking, 'Should I take these to prevent dementia?', the answer based on our study would be no." This research actually found out that of the 2,700 people in the study, as many as 66 percent were actually MORE likely to develop dementia if they took heavy, regular doses of painkillers. Larson said that those on painkillers "had more diabetes, more arthritis, more signs of heart failure…" What's more, high dosages of painkillers often have nasty complications, like gastrointestinal ulcers and micro bleeds in the brain. Despite drug company efforts to make painkillers the next one-a-day vitamin, you should only be popping these drugs as a last resort - not as a medical cure-all.
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