Stress Is Very Bad For Your Health- Whether You’re a Human or a Baboon
This weekend, I read a fascinating article in Wired magazine about stress and your health. (The article isn’t online yet, but the author of the article, Jonah Lehrer, has pieces of the article on his blog.)
{UPDATE: the article is posted on the Wired website now.}
Lehrer talked to primatologist Robert Sapolsky about stress in humans and animals, and how it affects health. (We’ve previously written about Sapolsky on this blog, and his incredibly funny and insightful talk about how un-unique humans are as compared to animals is one of my favorites of all time.)
Throughout decades of research studying baboon populations in Africa, Saposkly noticed that low social position created stress and poorer health in some of the baboons. Studies in humans have shown much the same thing. Specifically, things like having a mean boss or not having any control over your work contribute to a sustained stress response in your brain which negatively affects health and longevity. To paraphrase, Lehrer essentially says that stress doesn’t make you sick- but if you are sick, it will make it worse.
Sapolsky is now working on a vaccine to help control stress in humans. It’s in the very early test stages, but he’s hopeful it can ameliorate the overactive stress responses in affected individuals and prolong their good health and ultimately their life. I highly recommend reading the full article as it includes practical tips on reducing stress in your own life, and delves further into the details on stress research in humans.
Possibly Related posts:
Posted: Neuroscience, Research studies
Posit Science's corporate blog is the place where our employees share their thoughts about Posit Science and its products, brain fitness, breakthroughs in neuroscience, and any other topic they find interesting and relevant. 
