Happy New Year! I hope you make 2012 a year of better health, a positive attitude and a passion for living.

In last month’s issues, I talked about the lifestyle factors that contribute to healthy aging— diet, exercise, etc.

 But even the best diet and exercise regimen on the planet wouldn’t be enough to keep you healthy if you don’t manage stress.

Uncontrolled stress can negate all your best efforts and destroy your health.

This month, I’m going to show you what stress can do to you and how to keep it under control.

Fight or flight. The body reacts to stress by increasing production of stress hormones, such as adrenaline, cortisol, etc. Your heart rate and breathing increase and your senses and memory become sharper. You are even less sensitive to pain. This is all great if you are in a fight or fleeing a saber-toothed tiger. However, the burden of chronic, daily stress—and the lifestyle changes that accompany it— can lead to disease.

Stress and your heart. Stress affects us all differently. People with Type A personalities (impatient, competitive, prone to hostility/anger) are at greater risk for coronary artery disease than those with Type B personalities (patient, non-competitive, low-key). This suggests that it’s not the amount of stress that people face that lead to heart disease, but the way they handle the stress. For example, a long line at the grocery store can trigger a stress reaction in a Type A personality, whereas the Type B may be content to browse through the magazines while waiting to check out.

But the type of stress is also important. Very severe emotional stress—such as death of a loved one, divorce, job loss, trauma—is particularly damaging and can cause an acute cardiac event. Even your job position can have an impact. Per research, workers who felt that they had little control over their workplace (support staff for example) were more likely to suffer stress related heart disease than their bosses, who may even enjoy the stress and find it exhilarating.

Stroke risk. A Swedish study found chronic stress to be an independent risk factor in patients who suffer strokes caused by atherosclerosis or blood clots in the brain, though not for strokes caused by a blood clot from the heart.

A study of World War II veterans found those who had been prisoners of war were 8 times more likely to suffer a stroke than those who were not, suggesting that even stress from decades past can be a killer.

Metabolic syndrome. A British study found chronic work stress (over a period of 14 years) to be an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Men with job stress were nearly twice as likely to develop metabolic syndrome as their unstressed peers, and women were more than 5 times as likely to develop metabolic syndrome.

Just as important as exercise. Research suggests that managing stress is as big a factor as aerobic exercise in the prevention of major cardiac events— heart attacks, angioplasty, open-heart surgery, stents.

Hypertension. Because the body’s response to stress includes an elevation in blood pressure, chronic stress is a major contributor to hypertension. Research has shown stress management techniques to be effective in reducing ambulatory blood pressure. Per research, stress reduction accompanied with weight reduction and exercise can be as effective as drug therapy in controlling primary hypertension.

Cholesterol. How we respond to stress affects our cholesterol levels. Per British research, those who had the biggest stress reactions to day-to-day stressors also had the biggest jumps in cholesterol levels over time. Other studies of accountants at tax season and medical students near exam time also suggest that high stress can have a significant negative impact on cholesterol levels, with diet not being a factor.

Aches and pains. Research has shown a significant relationship between daily stress and flu, sore throat, headaches/ backaches. Why? Chronic stress is associated with suppression of the body’s immune response which can leave you more susceptible to viral/bacterial infections. Also, as part of the fight-or-flight response to stress, your muscles tense. This can lead to musculoskeletal pain, especially in the back, shoulders and neck.

The stressed brain. Stress reshapes the brain, causing neurons to shrink and grow. While the right amount of stress is beneficial and necessary for neural growth, severe or chronic stress can be harmful and cause long-lasting damage, affecting behavior, learning and memory. The blood-brain barrier is a membrane that protects the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream. Drugs that normally cannot penetrate the blood-brain barrier have been known to do so when combined with stress. Studies show that stress can make it easier for viruses to penetrate the blood-brain barrier as well, leaving the body more vulnerable to viral infections of the central nervous system.

Bottom line. Unmanaged stress may be undoing all the good things you are doing for your health, such as eating clean and exercising regularly. Next issue we’ll take a closer look at how stress may be sabotaging your health goals and what you can do about it.