Stress, albeit inevitable, is linked with a number of health problems. Your inability to cope up with stress can increase your risks of developing anxiety and depression problems as well as raise your likelihood to suffer from insomnia, digestive problems and even memory impairment.

Here's one tip though if you do not want to be cumbered by stress:  avoid observing people in stressful situations. A new study conducted by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the Technische Universität Dresden in Germany found that stress can be contagious.

In a stress test, the researchers observed that 26 percent of those who observed subjects perform difficult tasks had an increase in their cortisol levels. Thirty percent of those who witnessed the event through one-way mirror, on the other hand, had stress response and so did 24 percent of those who watched the event via video transmission.

"When you are exposed to danger, you want your body to respond with an increase in cortisol," said study author Veronika Engert from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig. "However, permanently elevated cortisol levels are not good. They have a negative impact on the immune system and neurotoxic properties in the long term." 

Relieving stress and reducing the effects of stress, however, do not apparently need expensive treatment. Another study conducted by researchers from the Loma Linda University in Southern California showed evidence that laughter is indeed the best medicine even for treating stress-related health problems.

The study, which was presented at the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego, California April 27, found that laughter may reduce the damage in the brain caused by cortisol such as decline in memory and can be utilized as an inexpensive way of combating age-related memory loss.

In an experiment involving elderly individuals, the researchers observed that participants who were shown a 20-minute funny video had a significant reduction in their cortisol levels compared to those who did not watch the video. They also exhibited greater improvement in recall, learning and sight recognition as determined by a memory assessment they have completed.

"Although older adults have age-related memory deficits, complimentary, enjoyable, and beneficial humor therapies need to be implemented for these individuals," study author Gurinder Singh Bains and colleagues said.