Is Chronic Stress Disrupting Your Microbiome?
Chronic psychological stress is common. A 2023 survey revealed that about one quarter of US adults reported high stress levels, and three quarters reported that chronic stress affects their daily lives.
Emerging evidence suggests that chronic stress not only exacts a high toll on mental health but also can wreak havoc on all levels of gastrointestinal (GI) functioning, all the way down to the microbiome.
“Chronic stress can change the diversity and composition of the gut microbiome and essentially tips us toward an imbalance or dysbiosis,” Aasma Shaukat, MD, MPH, gastroenterologist with NYU Langone Health and director of GI Outcomes Research, Gastroenterology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, said in an interview with Medscape Medical News.
Excerpted from Medscape
