“Actually, it is not stress that kills or ages”

“Actually, it’s not the stress What kills or ages us, but the way of facing it. It can be brief, punctual and strengthening and serves to improve performance, but it can be deadly if it extends chronicly in time and we do not know how to address it, ”says the Prof. Arturo Fernández-Cruzacademic Social Medicine number of the Royal National Academy of Medicine of Spain (Ranme)after a scientific session held at the Ranme. Education, family, social and geopolitical state, religion and ideology that a person will define “their reading” of events and, depending on the interpretation of that situation, will have one or another neuro-hormonal response in their brain. “Your mediation for the autonomic nervous system will then be faced within a control frame or alterations will occur due to an inadequate adaptation that can lead to unwanted situations, including mental illness,” explains this academic specialized in anti -aging.

In his opinion, most of the stress we suffer is positive and adaptive because it is a survival mechanism. It is a learning process that prepares the brain for future challenges. “However, chronic stress weakens the immune system, damages DNA, cuts our telomeres and, with it, diseases associated with aging begin to appear,” he reveals.

What are the most frequent symptoms that should warn us that our acute stress has become chronic? “At the physical level, headaches, muscle tensions, digestive problems, constant fatigue, insomnia, palpitations, high blood pressure, frequent colds and changes in appetite and weight changes appear.

As if that were not enough, chronic stress It also has cognitive effects: Difficulty of concentration, memory problems, recurrent negative thoughts and difficulty making decisions. “And, finally, it can also cause behavioral consequences: social isolation, alcohol abuse, tobacco and/or drugs, you get into excess or stop doing so, it gives rise to procrastination and low productivity,” he says.

According to figures handled by Prof. Fernández-Cruz, Spain is the European country with higher levels of stressapproximately 60% of the population, mainly affecting young people and women. And what happens exactly inside the body when there is so much stress? “Stress accelerates aging because a series of internal effects are produced in chain: our telomeres are shortened, which are like” protective capuchones “at the end of chromosomes that prevent DNA Hypothalamus-hypophysis-adrenal axis (HHA) is hyperactivated producing more cortisol, ”he says.

All this happens because chronic stress affects our central biological clock. “Our central biological clock is the supraquiasmatic nucleus (NSQ), a small structure located in the hypothalamus, just above the optical chiasma, formed by some 20,000 specialized neurons, which receives direct information from the retina through environmental light and coordinates the circadian rhythms (approx. 24 hours) of the entire organism,” says this academic.

The NSQ is responsible for synchronizing and adjusting the peripheral watches present in almost all tissues (liver, heart, skin, etc.), controls the secretion of melatonin, cortisol and other key hormones, performs the sleep-vigilia cycle determining when we must sleep and be awake, brand digestion rhythms, energy expenditure and daily variation Immune system. “When our central biological clock is affected by chronic stress, all these functions it performs They are altered: Mutations and DNA damage accumulate, there is an epigenetic deregulation, poorly folded proteins accumulate, cell cleaning systems such as autophagy are uncontrolled, there is a mitochondrial dysfunction and lower energy efficiency, the generative repair capacity decreases and, therefore, the accumulation of senescent cells increases and, with it, it is enhanced by the production of cytokines pro -inflammatory, stem cells and a long etc. are exhausted of disastrous effects, ”says this expert.

Cultivate the resilienceperform meditation and other keys to address stress

Human beings are born with instinctive fear reactions, such as those produced before strong noise or by objects that are quickly approaching. However, according to Prof. Fernández-Cruz, we can cancel these instinctive reactions through experience, such as when children learn to enjoy fireworks instead of fearing their strong explosions. “That is to say, The brain can adapt and modify their neuronal connections. From the practice of meditation and full attention we can develop this capacity. Our western society has normalized a stressful rhythm of life, where the feeling of overwhelming seems normal. To avoid getting tangled up in the speed of things we must commit ourselves to habits that allow us to go more slowly, generate less external and mental noise, especially the neuronal internal noise we create and sometimes it is unbearable, ”he confesses.

“My proposal is that the individual is empowered and responsible for himself, that he does not consider himself a victim of his reality, to stop thinking that his situation should be different and accept it in its entirety, avoiding victimizing. The practice of mindfulness keeps the body calm, decreases blood pressure and activates the cellular reparation processes that allow the mitochondria to recover its energy, delaying the biological clock. Aging, ”says Prof. Fernández-Cruz.

Finally, in addition to cultivating resilience and meditation that will help us restructure our thoughts seeing challenges instead of threats, this academic highlights other keys. “It is necessary Perform regular exercise between 3 and 5 times a week to stimulate the parasympathetic system; Sleep between 7 and 9 hours with fixed schedules; take one feeding Conscious, natural, varied and balanced; speak and share with trusted people; Learn to say “no” without guilt; manage time well organizing tasks and avoiding procrastination; reserve time for leisure and rest; Living aligned with what really matters to you and go to stress management strategies to train long -term skills, ”he concludes.