I have noticed a close relationship between stress and the functioning of my immune system. Stress can affect your immune system and make it harder for you to fight off colds, flu, infections, or even cancer. It may also cause irritable bowel syndrome or ulcers.

Stress is a normal part of our lives but if it goes on for too long it can affect how well our bodies work. That’s why we need to take steps to manage stress in our lives on a day-to-day basis – through exercising, yoga and meditation – as well as using things like lavender oil and other essential oils that have calming effects. When we do this the risk of getting sick is much lower because the immune system has more time to deal with outside “threats”.Stress tend to worsen the health of people with AIDS, Cancer, and Cardiovascular disease. Millions of dollars are made from the sale of stress reducing medications; these drugs have no effect on the incidence of these illnesses. A study was conducted to assess whether a single session of stress-reducing meditation can reduce the effects of stress on blood pressure in patients with AIDS, Cancer and Cardiovascular disease.

A recent meta-analysis reviewed 13 randomized trials that compared more than 1,000 individuals with each illness who attended a standardized eight-week program that included meditative techniques to those who attended standard medical care.

The potential causes of acute and chronic pain, from the most common to the least, are as follows:

– Pain can be a symptom of a disease such as diabetes, hypertension, or arthritis.

– Pain may also be a side effect of medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil), and blood pressure medication.

– Muscle cramps are often due to dehydration according to WebMD. A cramp causes pain and tightness in the muscle caused by excessive contraction that resulting in fatigue.

WebMD recommends drinking plenty of water throughout the day especially before workouts which can cause cramping.

Acute and chronic pain tend to differ in their root cause, symptoms, and severity. Acute pain is pain that only lasts for a few days or weeks, while chronic pain is classified by the National Cancer Institute as “pain that persists for more than 3 to 6 months and beyond the usual course of an acute disease or healing of an injury.”

Acute and chronic pain differ in their intensity and duration. Acute pain will last shorter periods than chronic pain which can last months or years. Acute pain can be mild and tolerable while chronic pain is intense and hard to tolerate in most situations. Pain level may vary with different types of acute and chronic pains even though they are both prescribed around the same intensity level.