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  | Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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 Chronic tensions are closely linked to extreme weight gain |
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| Trauma could cause loss of smell |
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Chronic tensions are closely linked to extreme weight gain |
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Are you getting bigger, fatter and stressed due to the fear of not looking any better? Think once more, things may worsen as stress-related weight issues have become more common and can inadvertently have an impact on health.
Stress is considered to be one of the main causes for loss or excess weight gain. Obesity (excessive fat accumulation in the body) that has become a widespread health problem among the younger generation is more because of their stressful lifestyles. Thus, there is a need to understand the reasons behind “an over-stressed-obese” person as it could lead to high blood pressure, heart diseases; type 2 diabetes, arthritis, stroke, sleep apnea and stress itself.
Stress on the other hand is usually related to physical and emotional changes, which a person needs to adjust to. It is caused due to negative events like death, physical problems, relationships etc and can also arise from positive situations like handling issues related to promotions, doubling of job tasks etc.
Stress and weight problems usually go hand in hand; and one of them tends to induce the other. Often, people sub-consciously eat more food or binge when they are tensed. Binging which is an un-healthy eating habit is considered as one of the most common problems faced by people and is nothing but a sub-conscious response to stress.
“There was a phase in my life where I felt that I was loosing all the importance that I had earlier and slowly a feeling of failure and inadequacy crept in. Also, I began doing badly academically and could not concentrate at whatever I did,” says Tess Joss, a 21-year-old student who shifted to Mumbai few years back for further studies. She adds, “I was emotionally drained and to overcome this I would end up eating chocolates and sweets. In fact in the last four years I put on over 20 kg.”
“When a person is under stress his ability to think rationally gets affected. Such persons are usually not objective about eating and hence indulge in wrong eating habits. Continuous stress on the other hand, can lead to a state of depression. Some depressed persons only overeat because they find solace in food,” says Dr Hozefa Bhinderwala-consultant psychiatrist, at Saifee Hospital and Prince Ali Khan Hospital
Dr Bhinderwala states two reasons for stress-related obesity:
* Due to stress, sleep gets reduced and sleep deprivation leads to reduction in the secretion of hormone leptin and increases the secretion of gehlin. Leptin secretes the brain with “stop feeding me signals” while gehlin increases the appetite. This causes obesity.
* Lack of sleep also reduces the body’s glucose tolerance, and can make persons obese.
Obesity can also lead to stress, only to trigger the problem further. Dr Bhinderwala, refers to this phenomenon as a “vicious cycle”. He says, “Obese people lack self-esteem, they are often mocked at because of their size and this in a way makes them stressed and they end up eating more.”
Stress is normal but if not dealt with properly its effects can be negative, one of the main harms being obesity. There are several ways to defeat stress:
* Try and eliminate the source of your stress and tension (here it could be obesity itself). Avoid situations, which could lead to stress. Do things one at a time.
* For unavoidable stressful situations like work deadlines and exam pressures one can cope with it, bya positive attitude and outlook to life.
* Treat your body with care. Exercising and meditation can help relax. Also eat healthy. Avoid junk food, alcohol, smoking and binge eating.
* A good sleep of six to seven hours daily can help one cope with negative and stressful elements.
* Seek help from psychologists and doctors to overcome your problem.
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Trauma could cause loss of smell |
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The loss of sense of smell could be symptomatic of post-traumatic stress disorder that usually afflicts war veterans, according to a study. The study involved conducting smell tests on 31 Vietnam War veterans afflicted with the disorder or PTSD, recruited from the Austin Health’s Veterans Psychiatry Unit. “The worse their ability to be able to name a smell, in a test of over 40 “scratch and sniff” odours, the harder it is to manage their emotions,” said John Dileo of the University of Melbourne, who conducted the study.
Dileo surmised that the difficulty these Vietnam veterans have in naming a smell might indicate weakness in the brain pathways bearing on emotional processing. The same areas in brain’s frontal lobe are involved in identifying smells and regulating emotion. “This is the first study to report olfactory identification ability as a predictor of aggression and impulsivity in war veterans,” said Warrick Brewer of Melbourne University, the research supervisor. “In a practical way, smell tests could be used as a screening tool by the Australian military, for example, to assess vulnerability,” Dileo said. “PTSD is often associated with complex associated problems including alcohol abuse, mood disorders and persistent physical health problems making it is an extremely difficult condition to diagnose and treat,” said Malcolm Hopwood of AHVPU.
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