Stress Taxes Your Heart
(HealthDayNews, 1/20/04)

After reviewing the psychological literature of the last hundred years, psychologist Oakley Ray of Vanderbilt University, concludes that behavioral stresses contribute to more than half of US fatalities. Studies confirm that, when the human brain is stressed, the body can experience the impact at a cellular level and become more susceptible to disease. For example, medical students are more likely to develop upper respiratory infections around exam time when anxiety is at a peak. Ray recommends that the health care system should take into account the power of a positive mind to defend against stress and disease and, thereby, maintain health and extend life.