Stress Management: How To Lower Your Stress Levels Right Now

Stress reduction is an effective way to help your immune system fight the flu a other viruses. But when we find ways to reduce stress in our lives, other health benefits follow as well.

In fact, two studies from Duke University reveal that stress management techniques may significantly improve the health concerns of type 2 diabetics, and could also help prevent heart attacks for those at high risk of cardiac events.

Adding protection
When insulin fails to deliver sugar from the blood to the cells, the resulting build-up of glucose in the blood creates the condition known as type 2 diabetes. Monitoring your diet, losing any excess weight and exercising can all help lower elevated blood glucose levels. Searching for another way to help in this effort, US researchers at the Duke University Medical Centre set out to determine if stress management might improve glucose metabolism in subjects with type 2 diabetes.

The Duke team created a stress management programme with three primary elements: behavioural skill instruction to help subjects identify major stress sources and how to cope with them; education in the ways that stress can affect health; and demonstrations of a physical technique called progressive muscle relaxation.

The researchers examined a group of 72 subjects with type 2 diabetes. All of the subjects participated in a five-session education programme about diabetes. A little over half of the subjects received the additional group-based stress management programme, which alsoran five sessions.

After the sessions, all of the subjects were followed for one year, participating in occasional questionnaires to assess anxiety, psychological health and perceived stress. Also during this follow-up year, all of the subjects' haemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) levels were measured at regular intervals. HbA1c is the marker that is measured to assess type 2 diabetes.

At the end of the year, 32 percent of the stress management group recorded HbA1c levels that were lower by one percent or more. In the group that received only diabetes education, 12 percent showed a similar drop in HbA1c.

Although these small changes appear to be unimpressive, the researchers noted that even a half percent reduction in HbA1c levels have been shown to produce a significant decrease in diabetic complications. The report concluded that group stress management would be a valuable addition to any programme of therapy in addressing type 2 diabetes.

Helping the heart
As I've reported before, in another stress study researchers from the Duke University Medical Centre tested a group of men with coronary artery disease, using a research design similar to the one used in the type 2 diabetes study.

In the cardiac trial, the results were much the same: the group that participated in a stress management programme showed significantly fewer adverse cardiac events over a 5 year period than the men who received no stress education.

Both of these studies illustrate how important it is to manage our experience of stress. But of course, this is much easier said than done. If you feel you need some assistance in reducing your stress levels (and most of us probably do) you might check with local health institutions in your community.

The Duke University Medical Centre, for instance, has established the Duke Centre for Integrative Medicine, offering consultation services and educational programs designed to promote optimum health through the integration of the health of the body with the health of the mind.

Putting a lid on it
What can you do to take control of stress right now? Three key habits can be an enormous help in controlling stress: maintaining a balanced, nutritious diet, getting the right amount of sleep, and sticking with a regular exercise programme.

It's also important to recognise the things that trigger your stress. You might take a moment to sit down and make a list of the stress factors in your life. Another step that many find helpful is to talk about your stress with someone you trust.

Certain nutrients may also assist in managing stress. Studies have shown that a high intake of dietary vitamin C and beta carotene can help reduce stress.

Successful stress management is an important element in any health regimen - and in fact may be one of the most positive things you can do to maintain your best possible health.