Everyone has stress, it might be something small or something major. Adolescents have stress about school: tests, quizzes, homework, extracurriculars, applying to college, your GPA, and grades per quarter. At the same time, adults stress about work, different expenses and chores to be done when they get home. We all have different problems that we’re facing, but when people stress, it can lead to high blood pressure. According to CNN, “When the stress hormone cortisol continues to increase over time, you may also be at higher risk of having a stroke, heart attack or heart disease.”
Cortisol is a central hormone in the body that controls stress. It increases glucose in your bloodstream, which increases your brain’s usage of glucose and also the availability of that can repair tissue. With this problem, “high blood pressure can damage arteries, and decrease the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart; again it can damage your heart leading to heart disease”.
Research has shown that “the levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone) that is released by the body in reaction to acute stress such as danger. Once the danger has passed, the body reduces cortisol output – but if a person is continuously stressed, cortisol levels can remain elevated.” To avoid high blood pressure or stress, doctors have recommended following a healthy diet, getting a lot of physical activity, plenty of sleep, and also giving yourself a break. Specifically, in our case high school students can manage stress by doing a meaningful meditation and maintaining physical exercise.