Saturday, March 12, 2011

Keeping Stress Levels Down

With assignments building up in academia a timely piece of research reminds us how important it is to keep stress at bay.

Dr. Jean-Philippe Gouin and colleagues from Ohio State University were writing in the journal   ‘Brain Behaviour and Immunity’. They   looked at a sample of   98 volunteers who agreed to have a standard blister wound inserted on their forearms via a vacuum-pump.

Amazingly   the most stressed   respondents were 4.2 times more likely to take longer than the estimated four days to fully heal.

 The authors suggest that relaxation and cognitive therapy may assist with stress management by lowering levels of the hormone ‘Cortisol’ in the bloodstream. ‘Cortisol’ is a hormone that acts as a bio-marker for stress.


4 comments:

  1. I would suggest the gym or some hobbies, but I'm not sure we have the time ;-)

    In all seriousness though, your post is so true. It's important to get a good balance.

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  2. Thanks for that Maresa,
    Hope that stress is a little bit reduced now. Time for some relaxation I think.Well until the next assignment anyway :-)

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  3. Striking the correct balance between work and relaxation seems to be increasingly difficult. With the lovely weather we are having at the moment I would suggest a walk on the living bridge and having lunch there looking at all the different wildlife. The library and the DM room might only be around the corner, but trust me they will feel a million miles away.... ;)

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  4. Yes Sherona, I agree, we have all spent way too much time inside recently. Dr Darina should have
    held a few of those lectures out on the lawn. I am sure that extensions for the computers could have been found.See there are benefits also to low technology-the 'groves of academe'and all that jazz.

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