One of the negative side effects of chronic stress is that it can age people prematurely. If you were to pay attention to people who live a very high stress life you would notice that they have gray hairs too soon or even wrinkles.

If you would see a president in the beginning of their term and one of the end of his turn you would notice a big difference in his appearance over the four or eight year span. Have you ever noticed that when you work too hard you burn out quicker, have less energy and your mind seems foggy? If you do notice, then my perceptions about the connection to stress and premature aging are correct.

Many recent studies have identified that chronic stress can also lead to people getting sick more often. The people who research this found this out by examining telomeres, which are caps at the end of the chromosomes. Telomeres get shorter as the cell divides, telomeres then die because the cells no longer divide, they are too short to divide.

Chronic stress can also negatively affect one memory, but there is one positive side to stress. If one exposes himself to moderate short term stress, like being in a friendly competition one can actually improve our memory. The reality is that most of us are exposed to much stress causing our memory to fail us.

But unfortunately when the stakes are high sometimes our mind becomes blank to something we knew like the back of our hands. Have you ever had the experience of forgetting where your registration is when the officer pulled you over? Or a better example would be forgetting where you put your keys when you are late for work.