Global Health Clinics | North Shore

Are You Stressing Your Kids Out?

By Eric Bakker ND. Eric is a stress authority who provides dedicated advice to our practitioners at Global Health Clinics.

Children today are affected more by stress than just about any time in history. They sleep less, their parents argue and separate more, they are exposed to graphical and violent images on a regular basis and they consume more caffeine than ever.

You may think as a parent that you’re doing a good job of shielding your kids from your anxiety and stress when in fact new research shows that your children are probably picking up on it anyway - and it’s affecting them big time, physically and emotionally, more than you could ever imagine. How will their future be, when it is shaped around such a stressful early life?

Five-Fold Increase of Death Risk Due To Stress

According to researchers, high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol were found to increase the risk of death in those aged 65 or over by five times or more.

They were more likely to die from heart disease including heart attacks, heart failure and strokes, but not necessarily more likely to die from other causes such as cancer, it was found.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal Fatigue is any decrease in the ability of the adrenal glands to carry out their normal functions. This happens when your body is overwhelmed, when stress overextends the capacity of your body to compensate and fully recover. Consequently, the adrenal glands become fatigued and are unable to continue responding adequately to further stress. Adrenal Fatigue is a collection of signs and symptoms, known as a "syndrome" that results when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level. Most commonly associated with intense or prolonged stress, it can also arise during or after acute or chronic infections, especially respiratory infections such as influenza, bronchitis or pneumonia. Many factors can reduce adrenal function, and it is often an accumulation of such triggers over a period of time which are responsible for the syndrome known as adrenal fatigue. As the name suggests, the paramount symptom is fatigue that is not relieved by sleep but it is not a readily identifiable or diagnosable entity like a low iron count or Vitamin B12 in the blood, which is typically viewed by the medical profession as the cardinal sign of fatigue.

Welcome to this section on stress.

We feature articles containing relevant indicators of your stress status. We also offer many different opportunities to help you heal and move forward with your life's plans

Are you:

• Tired for no reason?
• Having trouble getting up in the morning?
• Depending on coffee to keep you going?
• Feeling run down and stressed?
• Dragging yourself through each day?
• Craving salty or sweet snacks?
• Struggling to keep up with life’s daily demands?
• Unable to bounce back from stress or illness?
• Not having fun anymore?
• Experiencing decreased sex drive?
• Simply too tired to enjoy life?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions you may be suffering from Adrenal Fatigue.

Stress related Adrenal Fatigue is so common that an estimated 80% or more of people in Western developed nations worldwide suffer from it at some time in their lives, yet conventional medicine still does not recognise, adequately diagnose or treat this debilitating fatigue and stress syndrome.

Particularly now with the global recession we are living in stressful times, modern life is full of challenges: overwhelming stress from the workplace, relationships, social isolation and loneliness for others. A recent survey carried out in 2004 in the EU found that 90% of the respondents felt that stress in their respective countries is a major cause of illness. (WHO European Ministerial Conferences on Mental health. Helsinki, Finland 12 - 15 January 2005).

And according to American experts from the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) "Persistent or chronic stress has the potential to put individuals at a substantially increased risk of depression, anxiety and many other emotional difficulties".

With compromised adrenal function, conventional medicine only recognises Addison’s disease, named after Sir Thomas Addison, who first described it in 1855. Addison’s disease is life threatening if left untreated and can involve structural and physiological damage to the adrenal glands. People suffering from Addison’s disease have to take corticosteroids for the remainder of their lives in order to function. Luckily, it is the rarest form of poor adrenal function, with an occurrence of about 4 persons per 100,000.

But what about people who suffer on a daily basis with poor adrenal function, who are not Addison’s patients? The result is that millions of people needlessly suffer decreased quality of life for long periods of time. Adrenal Fatigue is a common health disorder that can affect anyone who experiences persistent or severe emotional or physical stress. It is an important contributing factor in many acute & chronic health conditions.

Many people who have been helped by Dr. Wilson’s extensive research over 30 years into stress and adrenal fatigue previously have spent fruitless years and thousands of dollars going from practitioner to practitioner before recognising themselves in Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.

One of Dr. Wilson’s patients had been to 37 doctors before she was finally helped by a doctor who knew about adrenal fatigue, and recognised her problems. More than a few have told us what a relief it was to finally see what they were experiencing in Dr. Wilson’s book and know they were not alone or crazy. It gave them a renewed sense of hope that they could be well again.

We are now pleased to announce that Dr. Wilson’s program is available to New Zealanders through Global Health Clinics professionals who specialise in treating the causes of stress and fatigue, not merely the symptoms.

This website contains much useful information about stress and how stress plays a role in fatigue and ill health. You will find many of the articles useful in your quest for optimal health and wellbeing. Join our email list and receive articles, recipes and regular news pertaining to stress and adrenal fatigue.