Did you know…at least 95% of disease may be stress-related?

In 2001, I was in a fitness course and the trainer mentioned that up to 95% of disease was stress-related. I remember thinking a few things, if that was true:

1.  we better get our stress under control
2. how could they measure 95%?
3. since we know we can control our stress (by changing our perception of it), then that means we can probably control disease, and that is  pretty powerful!

That statistic I heard that day was likely from Stanford University Medical School’s research that was released in 1998 by Dr. Bruce Lipton, a highly renowned and respected cell biologist.  He stated that stress is the cause of at least 95% of all illness and disease. Dr. Lipton reports that the remaining 5 percent is genetic and was caused by stress somewhere in the ancestry of that person, which makes sense if you understand how DNA can be changed and then passed down to generations. Basically, the thought is that if you have a genetic predisposition to a disease or health issue, it’s likely that the disease was originally caused by some form of stress somewhere in your family tree, the point being, stress is the underlying root cause.

Dr. Lipton is not the only expert to state that stress plays a massive role in our health. Here is what some of the other big guns have to say (this list will be added to as time goes on).  And whether the stat says 90 or 95% is not really the point.  The point is there is solid scientific evidence behind what stress is doing to our health.

• U.S. Federal Government
• Centers for Disease Control (CDC): 90 percent of all illness and disease is related to stress
• Harvard:  “Too much stress for too long creates what is known as ‘chronic stress’ which has been linked to heart disease, stroke, and may also influence cancer and chronic respiratory diseases. And illness is just the tip of the iceberg. Stress affects you emotionally, as well, marring the joy you gain from life and loved ones.”
• Yale
• Vanderbilt
• The Mayo Clinic

So if you believe that 95% of disease is stress related, are you ready to make the changes to reduce the stresses in your life? Learn more about hidden stressors that might be affecting your health.