full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Claudia Aguirre: Does stress cause pimples?


Unscramble the Blue Letters


She's only a few feet away. The closer he gets, the more nervous he becomes, the budding zit on his nose growing bigger and bigger until it practically eclipses his face. She looks at him hovering nberay, sees the massive zit, and giggles. He slumps away, feeling sick. Stress can sure make a mess, and it happens to both tenes and adults. But how does it happen? Let's rwnied to before the zit, to before Justin even sees his crsuh. Already late for sohocl, Justin got to class just in time to hear the teacher say "pop quiz." He hadn't done his homework the night before, and felt more uenrppared than the ambushed World War II soldiers he was supposed to write about. A sdedun rush of panic swept over his body, leaving him with sweaty palms, a fggoy mind and a racing heart. He stumbled out of class in a daze, and ran sarghtit into his all-time crush, spiking up his stress. Stress is a garenel biocoigall response to a potential danger. In piivmtire caveman terms, stress can make you fight for your life, or run for your life, if, for example, you're confronted by a hungry saber-tooth tiger. Special chemicals called stress hormones run through your body, giving you more oxygen and power to run away from danger or to face it and fight for your life, hence the term "fight or flight." But when you don't fghit, or take flight, you face the plight. When we're taking final exams, sitting in traffic or pondering pollution, we internalize stress. It all begins in the biarn. The hypothalamus, the master controller of your hormones, releases something called corticotropin-releasing hormone. This triggers the pituitary glnad, a pea-sized gland found at the base of the brain, to release anotrcoiicoroepdtrc hormone which then smlauteits the adrenal gland siinttg on top of the kidneys to release cortisol, the major stress hormone. These nartaul chemicals are a great help when you need to run away quickly, or do superhuman fteas of courage, but when you're slpmiy sitting, these stress hormones collect in the body and aeffct your overall health. Stress hormones increase inflammation in the body, suppress the immune system, which makes you more susceptible to infection by acne-causing bitcaera, and can even increase oil production in the skin. And this is the perfect storm for forming a pmpile. Cortisol is a major stress hormone involved in making skin cells churn out oily lipids from special glands called sebaceous glands. But when there's too much of these oily lipids, called sebum, they can plug up the swollen, ifanelmd pores and trap the pseky, acne-causing bacteria inside, where they set up hosue and thrive. Add a dash of inflammatory neuropeptides released by the nervous system when you're — well, nrevuos — and angry zits follow. To make matters worse, Justin is a boy, meaning he's got more teooenrtstse than girls. Testosterone is another hormone that increases oil pduroctoin in the skin. So, his already oily skin, together with a boost in oil and inflammation from sserts, is the perfect emnnvrioent for bacteria to swell, swell, swell up into a mjoar zit. So what could've jtusin done to avoid the big pimple? Stressful situations are unavoidable. But we can try to change our rsoneepss so that we're not so stressed in the end. And had he been cnniodfet in approaching her, she might not have noticed the pimple, or he might not have had one.

Open Cloze


She's only a few feet away. The closer he gets, the more nervous he becomes, the budding zit on his nose growing bigger and bigger until it practically eclipses his face. She looks at him hovering ______, sees the massive zit, and giggles. He slumps away, feeling sick. Stress can sure make a mess, and it happens to both _____ and adults. But how does it happen? Let's ______ to before the zit, to before Justin even sees his _____. Already late for ______, Justin got to class just in time to hear the teacher say "pop quiz." He hadn't done his homework the night before, and felt more __________ than the ambushed World War II soldiers he was supposed to write about. A ______ rush of panic swept over his body, leaving him with sweaty palms, a _____ mind and a racing heart. He stumbled out of class in a daze, and ran ________ into his all-time crush, spiking up his stress. Stress is a _______ __________ response to a potential danger. In _________ caveman terms, stress can make you fight for your life, or run for your life, if, for example, you're confronted by a hungry saber-tooth tiger. Special chemicals called stress hormones run through your body, giving you more oxygen and power to run away from danger or to face it and fight for your life, hence the term "fight or flight." But when you don't _____, or take flight, you face the plight. When we're taking final exams, sitting in traffic or pondering pollution, we internalize stress. It all begins in the _____. The hypothalamus, the master controller of your hormones, releases something called corticotropin-releasing hormone. This triggers the pituitary _____, a pea-sized gland found at the base of the brain, to release ___________________ hormone which then __________ the adrenal gland _______ on top of the kidneys to release cortisol, the major stress hormone. These _______ chemicals are a great help when you need to run away quickly, or do superhuman _____ of courage, but when you're ______ sitting, these stress hormones collect in the body and ______ your overall health. Stress hormones increase inflammation in the body, suppress the immune system, which makes you more susceptible to infection by acne-causing ________, and can even increase oil production in the skin. And this is the perfect storm for forming a ______. Cortisol is a major stress hormone involved in making skin cells churn out oily lipids from special glands called sebaceous glands. But when there's too much of these oily lipids, called sebum, they can plug up the swollen, ________ pores and trap the _____, acne-causing bacteria inside, where they set up _____ and thrive. Add a dash of inflammatory neuropeptides released by the nervous system when you're — well, _______ — and angry zits follow. To make matters worse, Justin is a boy, meaning he's got more ____________ than girls. Testosterone is another hormone that increases oil __________ in the skin. So, his already oily skin, together with a boost in oil and inflammation from ______, is the perfect ___________ for bacteria to swell, swell, swell up into a _____ zit. So what could've ______ done to avoid the big pimple? Stressful situations are unavoidable. But we can try to change our _________ so that we're not so stressed in the end. And had he been _________ in approaching her, she might not have noticed the pimple, or he might not have had one.

Solution


  1. primitive
  2. gland
  3. fight
  4. unprepared
  5. sudden
  6. straight
  7. pimple
  8. house
  9. brain
  10. pesky
  11. stress
  12. simply
  13. nervous
  14. confident
  15. teens
  16. foggy
  17. nearby
  18. natural
  19. crush
  20. justin
  21. inflamed
  22. testosterone
  23. responses
  24. production
  25. school
  26. environment
  27. major
  28. biological
  29. rewind
  30. adrenocorticotropic
  31. stimulates
  32. feats
  33. affect
  34. sitting
  35. bacteria
  36. general

Original Text


She's only a few feet away. The closer he gets, the more nervous he becomes, the budding zit on his nose growing bigger and bigger until it practically eclipses his face. She looks at him hovering nearby, sees the massive zit, and giggles. He slumps away, feeling sick. Stress can sure make a mess, and it happens to both teens and adults. But how does it happen? Let's rewind to before the zit, to before Justin even sees his crush. Already late for school, Justin got to class just in time to hear the teacher say "pop quiz." He hadn't done his homework the night before, and felt more unprepared than the ambushed World War II soldiers he was supposed to write about. A sudden rush of panic swept over his body, leaving him with sweaty palms, a foggy mind and a racing heart. He stumbled out of class in a daze, and ran straight into his all-time crush, spiking up his stress. Stress is a general biological response to a potential danger. In primitive caveman terms, stress can make you fight for your life, or run for your life, if, for example, you're confronted by a hungry saber-tooth tiger. Special chemicals called stress hormones run through your body, giving you more oxygen and power to run away from danger or to face it and fight for your life, hence the term "fight or flight." But when you don't fight, or take flight, you face the plight. When we're taking final exams, sitting in traffic or pondering pollution, we internalize stress. It all begins in the brain. The hypothalamus, the master controller of your hormones, releases something called corticotropin-releasing hormone. This triggers the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland found at the base of the brain, to release adrenocorticotropic hormone which then stimulates the adrenal gland sitting on top of the kidneys to release cortisol, the major stress hormone. These natural chemicals are a great help when you need to run away quickly, or do superhuman feats of courage, but when you're simply sitting, these stress hormones collect in the body and affect your overall health. Stress hormones increase inflammation in the body, suppress the immune system, which makes you more susceptible to infection by acne-causing bacteria, and can even increase oil production in the skin. And this is the perfect storm for forming a pimple. Cortisol is a major stress hormone involved in making skin cells churn out oily lipids from special glands called sebaceous glands. But when there's too much of these oily lipids, called sebum, they can plug up the swollen, inflamed pores and trap the pesky, acne-causing bacteria inside, where they set up house and thrive. Add a dash of inflammatory neuropeptides released by the nervous system when you're — well, nervous — and angry zits follow. To make matters worse, Justin is a boy, meaning he's got more testosterone than girls. Testosterone is another hormone that increases oil production in the skin. So, his already oily skin, together with a boost in oil and inflammation from stress, is the perfect environment for bacteria to swell, swell, swell up into a major zit. So what could've Justin done to avoid the big pimple? Stressful situations are unavoidable. But we can try to change our responses so that we're not so stressed in the end. And had he been confident in approaching her, she might not have noticed the pimple, or he might not have had one.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
stress hormones 3
major stress 2
stress hormone 2
oil production 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
major stress hormone 2


Important Words


  1. add
  2. adrenal
  3. adrenocorticotropic
  4. adults
  5. affect
  6. ambushed
  7. angry
  8. approaching
  9. avoid
  10. bacteria
  11. base
  12. begins
  13. big
  14. bigger
  15. biological
  16. body
  17. boost
  18. boy
  19. brain
  20. budding
  21. called
  22. caveman
  23. cells
  24. change
  25. chemicals
  26. churn
  27. class
  28. closer
  29. collect
  30. confident
  31. confronted
  32. controller
  33. cortisol
  34. courage
  35. crush
  36. danger
  37. dash
  38. daze
  39. eclipses
  40. environment
  41. exams
  42. face
  43. feats
  44. feeling
  45. feet
  46. felt
  47. fight
  48. final
  49. flight
  50. foggy
  51. follow
  52. forming
  53. general
  54. giggles
  55. girls
  56. giving
  57. gland
  58. glands
  59. great
  60. growing
  61. happen
  62. health
  63. hear
  64. heart
  65. homework
  66. hormone
  67. hormones
  68. house
  69. hovering
  70. hungry
  71. hypothalamus
  72. ii
  73. immune
  74. increase
  75. increases
  76. infection
  77. inflamed
  78. inflammation
  79. inflammatory
  80. internalize
  81. involved
  82. justin
  83. kidneys
  84. late
  85. leaving
  86. life
  87. lipids
  88. major
  89. making
  90. massive
  91. master
  92. matters
  93. meaning
  94. mess
  95. mind
  96. natural
  97. nearby
  98. nervous
  99. neuropeptides
  100. night
  101. nose
  102. noticed
  103. oil
  104. oily
  105. oxygen
  106. palms
  107. panic
  108. perfect
  109. pesky
  110. pimple
  111. pituitary
  112. plight
  113. plug
  114. pollution
  115. pondering
  116. pores
  117. potential
  118. power
  119. practically
  120. primitive
  121. production
  122. quickly
  123. quiz
  124. racing
  125. ran
  126. release
  127. released
  128. releases
  129. response
  130. responses
  131. rewind
  132. run
  133. rush
  134. school
  135. sebaceous
  136. sebum
  137. sees
  138. set
  139. sick
  140. simply
  141. sitting
  142. situations
  143. skin
  144. slumps
  145. soldiers
  146. special
  147. spiking
  148. stimulates
  149. storm
  150. straight
  151. stress
  152. stressed
  153. stressful
  154. stumbled
  155. sudden
  156. superhuman
  157. supposed
  158. suppress
  159. susceptible
  160. sweaty
  161. swell
  162. swept
  163. swollen
  164. system
  165. teacher
  166. teens
  167. term
  168. terms
  169. testosterone
  170. thrive
  171. tiger
  172. time
  173. top
  174. traffic
  175. trap
  176. triggers
  177. unavoidable
  178. unprepared
  179. war
  180. world
  181. worse
  182. write
  183. zit
  184. zits