Question

1. What is the relationship between stress and illness?

Answer 1

Linkages between long-term stress and illness. Stress can contribute to health breakdowns by causing people to behave in ways that increase the risk of illness.
Antigens - foreign substances in the body (antibody generators)
Antibodies - biological weapons used to destroy antigens
Life stress can weaken immune functioning. Stress hormones released into the bloodstream by the adrenal glands can suppress the activity of specific immune system cells, increasing the likelihood of illness. People's attempts to cope with stressors sometimes lead them to behave in ways that impair immunity.
Natural immunity - occurs quickly, nonspecific
Specific immunity - more targeted process and takes longer to occur; analyzes the specific properties of an invader and then forms antibodies to fight against it.
Acute-time limited stressors enhance fast-acting natural immunity process. Chronic stressors are the most damaging to health because they have suppressive effects on both types of immunity.

Answer 2

Severe and prolonged stress can lead to tissue damage in our body and disease.

Step-by-step explanation:

After going through a stressful episode there is a cascade of events that alter the nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine and immune systems. These changes are usually adaptive, at least in the short term. Stress hormones are produced by the nervous system and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. This hormone will lead to changes in the cardiovascular system, increasing heart rate and the amount of blood pumped with each beat. At the same time these same mechanisms cause a constriction of the vasculature.

The result is harmful changes in the body and body that can cause many illnesses such as high blood pressure, pain, panic attacks, as well as other illnesses.