| Helene M. Langevin, M.D. July 26, 2022 Stress is a part of life for everyone, and when it comes in short bursts, it's not necessarily bad. Our natural "fight-or-flight" response can help us mobilize our resources to meet a challenge. But when stress persists (chronic stress), it can lead to both mental and physical health problems. In fact, longstanding evidence from multiple areas of research demonstrates that chronic stress acts like a toxin, permeating our organs and cells and triggering a negative cascade on our hormones, sleep, muscles, metabolism, immune system, and inflammatory responses. And chronic systemic inflammation is emerging as a key factor underlying more than half of all deaths from chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver. Chronic stress has long been a focus of research for the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), and the interplay between the effects of stress on the mind and the body is an important area of research to me, personally. Many NCCIH-supported studies have looked at the potential role of complementary and integrative health interventions in helping people manage stress and its consequences. Let's look at one area of research—the effect of stress management interventions on people who are living with a long-term health condition. | 
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