TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Sharon Horesh Bergquist: How stress affects your body

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Cramming for a test? Trying to get more done than you have time to do? Stress is a feeling we all experience when we are challenged or oelmhwevred. But more than just an eomoitn, stress is a hardwired physical response that travels throughout your ertnie body. In the short term, stress can be advantageous, but when activated too often or too long, your primitive fhgit or flghit stress rssepone not only changes your brain but also damages many of the other organs and cells throughout your body. Your adrenal gland releases the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, and norepinephrine. As these hormones trveal through your blood staerm, they easily reach your blood vessels and heart. Adrenaline causes your heart to beat faster and raises your blood pseusrre, over time causing hypertension. Cortisol can also cause the endothelium, or inner lining of boold vessels, to not function normally. Scientists now know that this is an early step in triggering the poescrs of atherosclerosis or cholesterol plaque bluid up in your aertries. Together, these changes increase your chances of a heart attack or stroke. When your brain senses stress, it activates your autonomic nervous system. Through this network of nerve connections, your big brain communicates stress to your enteric, or intestinal nervous system. Besides causing butterflies in your stomach, this brain-gut connection can disturb the natural rythhmic contractions that move food through your gut, leading to irbialrte bowel sdomryne, and can increase your gut sensitivity to acid, mkinag you more likely to feel heartburn. Via the gut's nervous system, stress can also change the copmiotsoin and function of your gut bacteria, which may affect your digestive and overall health. Speaking of digestion, does chronic stress afcfet your waistline? Well, yes. Cortisol can iacensre your appetite. It tells your body to replenish your energy stores with energy dense foods and carbs, causing you to crave crmfoot foods. High leevls of cortisol can also cause you to put on those extra calories as visceral or deep belly fat. This type of fat doesn't just make it harder to button your pants. It is an organ that actively releases hormones and immune steysm chemicals called cytokines that can increase your risk of dovleenpig coihnrc dseesias, such as heart disease and iisunln racnseitse. Meanwhile, stress hormones affect immune cells in a variety of ways. Initially, they help prerpae to fight invaders and heal after injury, but chronic sertss can dampen function of some immune cells, make you more susceptible to infections, and slow the rate you heal. Want to live a long life? You may have to curb your chronic stress. That's because it has even been associated with shortened tlmeeeors, the shalceoe tip ends of chromosomes that measure a cell's age. Telomeres cap chromosomes to allow DNA to get copied every time a cell divides without damaging the cell's ginteec code, and they shorten with each cell division. When telomeres become too short, a cell can no longer divide and it dies. As if all that weren't enough, chronic stress has even more ways it can sabotage your hlaeth, including acne, hair loss, saxeul dysfunction, headaches, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and irritability. So, what does all this mean for you? Your life will always be filled with stressful situations. But what martets to your biran and entire body is how you respond to that stress. If you can view those situations as challenges you can control and master, rather than as threats that are insurmountable, you will perform better in the short run and stay healthy in the long run.

Open Cloze

Cramming for a test? Trying to get more done than you have time to do? Stress is a feeling we all experience when we are challenged or ___________. But more than just an _______, stress is a hardwired physical response that travels throughout your ______ body. In the short term, stress can be advantageous, but when activated too often or too long, your primitive _____ or ______ stress ________ not only changes your brain but also damages many of the other organs and cells throughout your body. Your adrenal gland releases the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, and norepinephrine. As these hormones ______ through your blood ______, they easily reach your blood vessels and heart. Adrenaline causes your heart to beat faster and raises your blood ________, over time causing hypertension. Cortisol can also cause the endothelium, or inner lining of _____ vessels, to not function normally. Scientists now know that this is an early step in triggering the _______ of atherosclerosis or cholesterol plaque _____ up in your ________. Together, these changes increase your chances of a heart attack or stroke. When your brain senses stress, it activates your autonomic nervous system. Through this network of nerve connections, your big brain communicates stress to your enteric, or intestinal nervous system. Besides causing butterflies in your stomach, this brain-gut connection can disturb the natural ________ contractions that move food through your gut, leading to _________ bowel ________, and can increase your gut sensitivity to acid, ______ you more likely to feel heartburn. Via the gut's nervous system, stress can also change the ___________ and function of your gut bacteria, which may affect your digestive and overall health. Speaking of digestion, does chronic stress ______ your waistline? Well, yes. Cortisol can ________ your appetite. It tells your body to replenish your energy stores with energy dense foods and carbs, causing you to crave _______ foods. High ______ of cortisol can also cause you to put on those extra calories as visceral or deep belly fat. This type of fat doesn't just make it harder to button your pants. It is an organ that actively releases hormones and immune ______ chemicals called cytokines that can increase your risk of __________ _______ ________, such as heart disease and _______ __________. Meanwhile, stress hormones affect immune cells in a variety of ways. Initially, they help _______ to fight invaders and heal after injury, but chronic ______ can dampen function of some immune cells, make you more susceptible to infections, and slow the rate you heal. Want to live a long life? You may have to curb your chronic stress. That's because it has even been associated with shortened _________, the ________ tip ends of chromosomes that measure a cell's age. Telomeres cap chromosomes to allow DNA to get copied every time a cell divides without damaging the cell's _______ code, and they shorten with each cell division. When telomeres become too short, a cell can no longer divide and it dies. As if all that weren't enough, chronic stress has even more ways it can sabotage your ______, including acne, hair loss, ______ dysfunction, headaches, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and irritability. So, what does all this mean for you? Your life will always be filled with stressful situations. But what _______ to your _____ and entire body is how you respond to that stress. If you can view those situations as challenges you can control and master, rather than as threats that are insurmountable, you will perform better in the short run and stay healthy in the long run.

Solution

irritable
travel
prepare
matters
overwhelmed
system
composition
flight
process
shoelace
rhythmic
developing
brain
stream
resistance
emotion
insulin
blood
health
arteries
diseases
response
build
syndrome
pressure
making
genetic
stress
comfort
telomeres
increase
chronic
levels
sexual
fight
affect
entire

Original Text

Cramming for a test? Trying to get more done than you have time to do? Stress is a feeling we all experience when we are challenged or overwhelmed. But more than just an emotion, stress is a hardwired physical response that travels throughout your entire body. In the short term, stress can be advantageous, but when activated too often or too long, your primitive fight or flight stress response not only changes your brain but also damages many of the other organs and cells throughout your body. Your adrenal gland releases the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, and norepinephrine. As these hormones travel through your blood stream, they easily reach your blood vessels and heart. Adrenaline causes your heart to beat faster and raises your blood pressure, over time causing hypertension. Cortisol can also cause the endothelium, or inner lining of blood vessels, to not function normally. Scientists now know that this is an early step in triggering the process of atherosclerosis or cholesterol plaque build up in your arteries. Together, these changes increase your chances of a heart attack or stroke. When your brain senses stress, it activates your autonomic nervous system. Through this network of nerve connections, your big brain communicates stress to your enteric, or intestinal nervous system. Besides causing butterflies in your stomach, this brain-gut connection can disturb the natural rhythmic contractions that move food through your gut, leading to irritable bowel syndrome, and can increase your gut sensitivity to acid, making you more likely to feel heartburn. Via the gut's nervous system, stress can also change the composition and function of your gut bacteria, which may affect your digestive and overall health. Speaking of digestion, does chronic stress affect your waistline? Well, yes. Cortisol can increase your appetite. It tells your body to replenish your energy stores with energy dense foods and carbs, causing you to crave comfort foods. High levels of cortisol can also cause you to put on those extra calories as visceral or deep belly fat. This type of fat doesn't just make it harder to button your pants. It is an organ that actively releases hormones and immune system chemicals called cytokines that can increase your risk of developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease and insulin resistance. Meanwhile, stress hormones affect immune cells in a variety of ways. Initially, they help prepare to fight invaders and heal after injury, but chronic stress can dampen function of some immune cells, make you more susceptible to infections, and slow the rate you heal. Want to live a long life? You may have to curb your chronic stress. That's because it has even been associated with shortened telomeres, the shoelace tip ends of chromosomes that measure a cell's age. Telomeres cap chromosomes to allow DNA to get copied every time a cell divides without damaging the cell's genetic code, and they shorten with each cell division. When telomeres become too short, a cell can no longer divide and it dies. As if all that weren't enough, chronic stress has even more ways it can sabotage your health, including acne, hair loss, sexual dysfunction, headaches, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and irritability. So, what does all this mean for you? Your life will always be filled with stressful situations. But what matters to your brain and entire body is how you respond to that stress. If you can view those situations as challenges you can control and master, rather than as threats that are insurmountable, you will perform better in the short run and stay healthy in the long run.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
chronic stress	4
entire body	2
stress hormones	2
nervous system	2

Important Words

acid
acne
activated
activates
actively
adrenal
adrenaline
advantageous
affect
age
appetite
arteries
atherosclerosis
attack
autonomic
bacteria
beat
belly
big
blood
body
bowel
brain
build
butterflies
button
called
calories
cap
carbs
causing
cell
cells
challenged
challenges
chances
change
chemicals
cholesterol
chromosomes
chronic
code
comfort
communicates
composition
concentrating
connection
connections
contractions
control
copied
cortisol
cramming
crave
curb
cytokines
damages
damaging
dampen
deep
dense
developing
dies
difficulty
digestion
digestive
disease
diseases
disturb
divide
divides
division
dna
dysfunction
early
easily
emotion
endothelium
ends
energy
enteric
entire
epinephrine
experience
extra
faster
fat
fatigue
feel
feeling
fight
filled
flight
food
foods
function
genetic
gland
gut
hair
harder
hardwired
headaches
heal
health
healthy
heart
heartburn
high
hormones
hypertension
immune
including
increase
infections
initially
injury
insulin
insurmountable
intestinal
invaders
irritability
irritable
leading
levels
life
lining
live
long
longer
loss
making
master
matters
measure
move
muscle
natural
nerve
nervous
network
norepinephrine
organ
organs
overwhelmed
pants
perform
physical
plaque
prepare
pressure
primitive
process
put
raises
rate
reach
releases
replenish
resistance
respond
response
rhythmic
risk
run
sabotage
scientists
senses
sensitivity
sexual
shoelace
short
shorten
shortened
situations
slow
speaking
stay
step
stomach
stores
stream
stress
stressful
stroke
susceptible
syndrome
system
tells
telomeres
tension
term
test
threats
time
tip
travel
travels
triggering
type
variety
vessels
view
visceral
waistline
ways