Stress Defined

Stress is now generally accepted as the principal malady of our 21st century lives. The constant pressure associated with living in a fast-paced world has created an environment where nearly everyone feels the effects of stress.  To suggest that a small electronic device could resolve your stress problems totally is maybe a bit strong but we are confident that the two devices we are going to mention are capable of doing exactly that!  They are the RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device and the Heartmath emWave Personal Stress Reliever.  To better understand about stress and how one of these devices is likely to help you, then read on.

Surprisingly tricky to calibrate and quantify, one could say that stress is the wear and tear an individual undergoes in response to day-to-day pressure and tension. Change, illness, injury or career and lifestyle changes, are common causes of stress. However, it is the effects of stress, like pressure and tension, that we feel in response to the little everyday hassles such as rush hour traffic, waiting in line, and too many emails, that do the most damage.

Stress is the body and mind’s response to any pressure that disrupts its normal balance. Stress arises when events do not run as we would like or anticipate and we are unable to manage our reaction. Stress expresses itself in the form of resistance, tension, disappointment and strain, throwing off our physiological and psychological equilibrium. Prolonged or too frequent periods of stress can are likely to be disabling and health problems may well follow.

Stress and the consequences of stress are often misunderstood. Although it usually appears that stress is caused by external factors over which one may have little or no control, the fact is that stress is really caused by our emotional reactions to events and the way we deal with them. It is not unusual for stress to exist in an individual but to go unnoticed until manifesting itself in health problems. Many people have simply adapted to stress in an unhealthy way, resigned to thinking it’s “just the way it is”. Inability to recognize build-up of stress and to deal with management of stress has brought about what is best described as a pandemic of low-level depression and anxiety.

Stress and Your Health

The effects of stress in people are seen physically, mentally and emotionally. Stress is implicated in up to 90% of health problems according to the American Institute of Stress. An excess of stress can exacerbate a number of health issues including hypertension, cardiac disease, stroke issues, depression and sleep ailments. Additional studies confirm the debilitating effects of stress on our health:

·        Three 10-year studies concluded that emotional stress was more predictive of death from cancer and heart disease than smoking. People not managing to control their stress were found to have an alarming 40% higher death rate than non-stressed individuals.

·        A Study by Harvard Medical School of 1,623 survivors of heart attack found that the risk of subsequent heart attacks in those that remained calm during emotional conflicts was half that of those who became angry.

·        A 20-year study of over 1,700 older men conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that worry about social conditions, health and personal finances all significantly increased the risk of coronary disease.

·        More than 50% of heart disease cases are not explained solely to the generally accepted risk factors of high cholesterol, smoking or lack of adequate exercise.

·        According to a Mayo Clinic study of individuals with coronary disease, psychological stress was the strongest predictor of future cardiac events, such as cardiac death, cardiac arrest and heart attacks.

It is really no surprise that with stress being such a commonly found malady, an industry has developed to help people deal with it. offering a varied selection of treatments, therapies and courses, several of which it has to be said, charge a frightening price. However, two products have been developed to help relieve stress in individuals that we have researched and reviewed and which have been found should be both affordable and effective. The RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device and the Heartmath emWave Personal Stress Relief System were each found to be effective in relieving stress and reducing blood pressure.  Although there are similarities and there is a large element of common purpose, the two systems do differ but reference to a product review will make clear the main differences.