Stress is a common body response to instances that you consider yourself threatened or disturb your balance in any way. Whenever you sensed imagined or true danger, the body's defenses increases in a swift, involuntary manner known as the stress response or the "fight-or-flight" reaction. This is the body's way of protecting you. It makes you more energetic, stay focused, and attentive. In some instances, like in emergencies, stress helps you to meet challenges or provides you that extra power to defend yourself, which may in turn save your life.

But outside a certain point, stress eventually stops being advantageous and can now cause major harm to your mood, your relationships, your productivity, your quality of life and your health in general.

Here are the effects of stress in your body, thoughts and emotions over time:

Heart. Stress is associated to abnormal heartbeat (arrhythmia), high blood pressure, blood clots, and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). It's also associated to heart attack, coronary artery disease, and heart failure.

Immune system. Continuous stress contributes to a possibility of getting sick more often. Having a chronic illness like AIDS and cancer, stress may very well deteriorate your health.

Muscles. Endless tension caused by stress may lead to shoulder, neck and lower back pains. It can even worsen your rheumatoid arthritis.

Reproductive Organs. Stress may lead to erection problems, low fertility, painful menstrual periods and problems during pregnancy.

Stomach. Stress can worsen stomach problems, like peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), ulcerative colitis or irritable bowel syndrome.

Lungs. Stress can also worsen the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

Skin. Stress can also lead skin problems such as psoriasis and acne to worsen.

You may also:

• Feel irritable, losing your temper more frequently, shout at others for no reason, and unable to deal with the smallest of problems.
• Experience being anxious or tired everytime.
• Realize how difficult it is to focus on tasks.
• Worry too much even about small things. It seems that because you can't do something fast, you are already missing out on things.
• Assume that bad things are occurring or about to occur.
• Experience bad sleeping patterns, or cutting down on sleep.

Stress is also linked with psychological health problems particularly, anxiety and depression. The relationship is quite clear here - the negative thinking related with stress also leads to these two.

Regular exercise can trim down your physiological response to stress. Exercise can enhance the blood supply to your heart and strengthens it the process, immediately avoiding your susceptibility to heart disease.

If you think that you're prone to illness caused by stress, or in any way hesitant about the status of your health, you should immediately consult proper medical advice.

Bear in mind that stress management is only a fraction of an answer to any illness related to stress. So do not take stress as a joke.