Funmurphys: the Blog

It's Not the Stress, It's the Strain

OK, a little engineering humor. Stress is the applied force, and strain is the resulting deformation. So it isn't the stress that gets you, it's your strain that's harmful. In the category that a little is good, a lot is bad, put stress according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health. They claim that stress responses can make people more susceptible to infection, constricted arteries, weakened muscles and thinner bones, as well as a greater tendency to a spare tire around the abdomen due to increased insulin levels. I can say from my own experience when I'm feeling the strain I'm more susceptible to illness, my cholesteral levels go up, and I put on weight. The problem is, I generally don't have any control over the stress - I can only work on feeling less of the strain.