Life is stressful these days. But learning to identify your stressors and taking steps to manage them can help you cope.

Scene 1: Mary is walking late at night in a deserted alley. A hulking figure slips out of the shadows nearby. Instantly, her heart starts beating rapidly. Her breath comes quickly. She's immediately primed to dash to safety or fend off her potential attacker. She chooses to run. Safe at home, all systems return to normal. Mary vows never to walk that route again — and she never does.

Scene 2: Marvin is stuck in rushhour traffic, as usual, late for another crazy day at work. Someone shifts into the lane right in front of him. He blasts on the horn. His heart is beating fast and hard. His breath comes quickly.

Marvin's body, just like Mary's, is primed to run away or stay and fight. But in his case there's nowhere to flee, and no one to fight. He has been facing this same kind of uncontrolled stress day in and day out, year after year, and he feels he has no choice.

Unknown to Marvin, the stress has been slowly wearing away at his cardiovascular system. He's developing high blood pressure and is at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

The Stress Response
How can the sight of a potential mugger and bumper-to-bumper traffic cause such similar short-term reactions, but lead to such different long-term results?

The answer can be found in the basics of biology, according to Robert M. Sapolsky, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. "Whenever you're presented with a stressful situation, whether it's a vicious dog or an impossible deadline, your brain responds by sending waves of activity through the nervous system and changing how various hormones are secreted in your body."

When these additional stress hormones enter your bloodstream:

• Blood moves faster and with more force, delivering more oxygen and energy to the brain and the muscles that are exercising.
• Major arteries are constricted, causing blood pressure to rise.
• Kidneys block urine formation to conserve water, and the digestive tract shuts down.

All these physical changes are great for helping Mary fight back or run like lightning — and that's basically what they're designed for. But when they happen every day in traffic over a period of years, they can make you sick.

According to Sapolsky, an overworked heart and blood vessels can start to wear out. The inner lining of blood vessels may become damaged, and in a condition called atherosclerosis, plaque forms inside the vessels and begins to clog them. This leads to decreased blood flow and increased risk for chest pain.

Uncontrolled stress also may weaken the immune system or trigger depression, gastrointestinal or sleep problems and other maladies.

When You Can't Run Away
When there's too much stress over time and you can't change what's causing it, you'll need to take other measures to control stress.

"Begin by noticing what causes the stress response," suggests Sapolsky.

Once you have an idea about your stressors, you can act to manage them. For example:

• Be physically active and eat a healthful diet
• Look into relaxation techniques, such as guided imagery, meditation or yoga

The idea is simple — by taking action to control your stress response, you'll be preventing stress from controlling your body and your health.

Polly Turner spoke with Robert M. Sapolsky, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping, Owl Books, 2004, $16.

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