Chinese Medicine can Reduce Stress

  Frank Li,   July 29, 2012

https://frankwaterloo.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/chinese-medicine-can-reduce-stress/

The study of crossing the disciplines of psychology, medicine, neuroscience, and genetics reveals that stress causes deterioration in everything from gums to heart and can make human more susceptible to everything from the common cold to cancer. And those optimistic people have lower incidence of heart disease, better prognosis after heart surgery, and longer life. 

Now, many researches have made clear that our health is closely associated with psychological factors or so called stress, and it is the main inducement for various diseases. Such as obesity, cancer, diabetes,heart attack, stress ulcer, mind disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, retard the wound healing, and so on. 

1. Study Confirms that Stress Speeds Aging 

November 30, 2004£¬washingtonpost.com <Study Is First to Confirm That Stress Speeds Aging>. reported that ¡°Dennis H. Novack, who studies the link between emotions and health at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.¡± 

Epel and her colleagues studied 39 women ages 20 to 50 who had been experiencing grinding stress for years because they were caring for a child suffering from a serious chronic illness, such as autism or cerebral palsy, and 19 other very similar women whose children were healthy. 

The researchers examined structures inside cells called telomeres. Telomeres are the caps at the ends of chromosomes ¡ª the molecules that carry genes. Every time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. In the natural aging process, the telomeres eventually get so short that cells can no longer divide, and they then die. 

As more and more cells reach the end of their telomeres and die, the inexorable process produces the effects of aging ¡ª muscles weaken, skin wrinkles, eyesight and hearing fade, organs fail, and thinking abilities diminish. 

The researchers also measured levels of an enzyme called telomerase, which helps rebuild telomeres to stave off this process. Telomerase levels naturally decline with age. 

¡°As the telomeres shorten, telomerase is trying to keep up,¡± said Elizabeth Blackburn, a professor of biology and physiology at UCSF who helped conduct the study. ¡°Over the long term, we lose the race and our telomeres do get shorter.¡± 

The researchers found that chronic stress appears to accelerate this process. The longer a woman had been caring for a sick child, the shorter her telomeres, the lower her levels of telomerase and the higher her levels of ¡°oxidative stress.¡± Oxidative stress is a process in which ¡°free radicals¡± in the body damage DNA, including telomeres. 

A key factor appears to be people¡¯s perception of how much stress they are under, the researchers found. The greater a woman¡¯s perception of her stress in the study, the worse she scored on all these factors. Compared with women with the lowest levels of perceived stress, women with the highest perceived stress had telomeres equivalent to someone 10 years older, the researchers found. 

¡°The shorter the telomeres, the higher the perceived stress and the lower the telomerase,¡± Blackburn said. ¡°It was just the same with oxidative stress ¡ª the worse the perceived psychological stress, the greater the oxidative stress. It all went in the same direction.¡± 

The researchers studied telomeres and telomerase in white blood cells taken from blood samples. Prematurely aged white blood cells alone could make people more prone to illness because white blood cells are a key part of the immune system. But the findings probably hold true for other types of cells as well, Epel said, and the researchers now plan to do studies to confirm that. 

It is unclear exactly how stress might affect telomeres and telomerase levels, but it could be that chronically elevated levels of stress hormones such as cortisol damage the telomeres and other genes in the body and lower telomerase levels, inhibiting the cells¡¯ ability to respond. 

¡°That¡¯s the obvious hypothesis that jumps out,¡± Blackburn said. 

Whatever the mechanism, the findings indicate that doctors could monitor telomere length and telomerase levels for signs that people under chronic stress are suffering adverse effects, Epel said. 

¡°Telomere length and telomerase may be used as a way to monitor health. Very low telomerase or very short telomeres might serve as a kind of red flag,¡± Epel said. 

If someone appears headed for trouble, doctors could recommend meditation, yoga or other stress-reduction techniques, she said. 

¡°The findings emphasize the importance of managing life stress, to take it seriously if one feels stressed, to give your body a break, and make life changes that promote well-being,¡± Epel said. 

2. Chinese drugs can reduce the negative effects of stress 

We are living in a highly competitive society. The inducing factors of psychological pressure are surrounding us in every moment, we can not escape. Can be done only on the subjective self-regulating to reduce their harms. On this purpose, Chinese drugs can play a effective role. 

Chinese drug can reduce the negative effects of psychological stress largely. Because it can alleviate the stress symptoms by releasing endorphins, decreasing the stress hormone cortisol, eliminating the oxygen free radicals, lowering the blood pressure, reducing the heart rate, relaxing the muscle tissue, improving the digestion and sleeping, and bringing more fresh oxygen to body tissues by improving the circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids. This increased blood flow will eliminate the waste products from inside the body and enhance the nutrition supply to take an Antiaging effect. 

2.1. The effect of single Chinese drug on stress 

Here, take Ginseng, a well-known herb as example: 

For the rats in chronic restraint stress, Ginsenoside can reduce the pathological changes in ultra-structure of adrenal cortex, improve the reduction of activities, the decline in memory and exercise capacity, etc.

Ginseng can reduce the reduction of ATP, glycogen, creatine phosphate content and the increase of lactic acid content in the muscle tissue of rats in stress. Reduce the rise of mouse rectum temperature caused by the stimulation of noise and light.

Ginseng can significantly reduce the mortality of mice under the condition of low temperatures (-9 ¡æ) or high temperature (46 ¡æ). Extend the swimming duration time and inhibit the reduction of muscle glycogen in swimming rats. 

can reduce the negative effects of psychological stress 

The Effect of Two Kinds of Traditional Chinese Herbal Compound on the Behavior and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal Gland Axis of the Chronic Psychological Stress Rats 

Aim: To study the effects of Banxia Houpu Soup and Guizhi Gancao Longgu Muli Soup on the behaviors and HPA axis of chronic psychological stress rats. 

Methods: SD rats were divided into 5 groups: normal group, model groups ¢ñ and ¢ò, Banxia Houpu Soup group and Guizhi Gancao Longgu Muli Soup group. The behavior, the hypothalamus CRH, plasma ACTH and serum CORT (radio-immunity method) of all the rats were observed. 

Results: On the 11th day, the crossing times of model group ¢ñ and the crossing times and struggle time of model group ¢ò changed obviously compared with those of normal group. On the 19th day, the crossing times and still time of model group ¢ñ and ¢ò had remarkable differences, while the contents of CRH, ACTH of model group ¢ñ and the contents of CRH, ACTH and CORT of model group ¢ò increased obviously compared with those of normal group. Compared with those of model group ¢ñ and ¢ò, the crossing times on the 11th and 19th days and the struggle times on the 11th day of Banxia Houpu Soup group increased obviously, while the contents of CRH and ACTH decreased; the crossing times on the 19th day increased, but the still time on the 19th day shortened and thecontents of ACTH and CRH decreased in Guizhi Longgu Muli Soup. 

Conclusion: Banxia Houpu Soup and Guizhi Longgu Muli Soup can affect the behavior and the endocrinal system of the chronic psychological stress rats in a certain level by through the action on the different sectors of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal gland axis. 

Note: Banxia Houpu Soup and Guizhi Longgu Muli Soup both are the experience compound prescription of Chinese drugs.