Our wallets will not be the only thing suffering as we buy presents this Christmas. The mind and body will also be put under dangerous levels of stress, a study has found.

Christmas shopping increased blood pressure to dangerous levels in 50 per cent of shoppers. This can lead to hypertension, which can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and kidney problems. Even low levels of hypertension are linked with migraines, panic attacks and osteoporosis. Heart rates increased by an average of 10 per cent during Christmas shopping, University of East London in partnership with Moneysupermarket Shopping found.

In the study of 16 men and 16 women, men had the worst spikes in heart rate during a 90-minute spree in London. But with blood pressure and cortisol, both sexes had similar increases.

Samuel Thompson, 30:" I HAD to buy five items and had an hour and a half to buy them. No sweat --or so I thought."

"Normally, I know exactly what I want to get and do it as quick as possible. But having to make on-the-spot decisions, like we did in the test, makes it more stressful."

"Lack of time and the crowds were the biggest pressure points. I got frustrated by other people slowing me down by stopping to chat in the street. And I could feel myself sweating in queues. Everything took longer than planned."

Dr Turner's verdict:" Sam's heart rate was good at the start but it had almost doubled by the end. Combined with his hiked systolic blood pressure--up by nearly 15 per cent--it could put him in line for stroke. Systolic blood pressure relates to the pumping out of blood by the heart."

Set a budget.

Be clear how much you want to spend on each person and stick to it!

Make a list.

Make a detailed list of the people you need to buy gifts for--this will ease your panic and help you avoid the embarrassment of realising you completely forgot about your sister-in-law again.

Research gifts online.

Not only can this provide inspiration, but comparison sites will tell you where to get the best deals.

Shop online.

You can pretty much buy anything and everything you could want online. Many businesses offer next day delivery and discounts are offered online that are not available in-store.

Use your credit card.

Purchases made on your credit card are insured against theft, loss and damage.

Stagger your shopping.

If you start buying your presents a few months in advance--say one present a month--both your wallet and your stress levels will thank you for taking the pressure off.

一項研究發現：圣誕購物不僅能把錢包弄癟，還會有害身心。

東倫敦大學和個人理財網站Moneysupermarket合作完成的研究發現：圣誕購物會令50％的購物者的血壓升高到一個危險閾值，并傷害腎臟，也增加了心臟病發作和中風的危險。即便血壓升高得不多，也容易引發偏頭痛、恐慌癥以及骨質疏松癥，而圣誕購物者的心跳平均加速10％。

研究者讓倫敦的16名男性和16名女性在一個半小時里購物，結果男人的心跳變化最糟糕，而無論男女，二者的血壓和腎上腺皮質醇值都有所增高。

30歲的薩繆爾·湯普森說：“我要在規定的一個半小時內買五樣東西。我覺得這毫無樂趣可言。”

“我通常都知道自己想買什么，而且買了就走。但這次實驗要求你當場做出決定，就像是在考試，這就很有壓力了。”

“時間緊迫、擁擠不堪是造成壓力的最大所在。我對有人站在路上聊天而擋住了去路的事情很惱火。排隊等待的時候我能覺出自己在出汗。完成每件事都比預計的時間長。”

特納醫生的結論：“薩繆爾的心跳開始時還正常，但購物結束時心跳速度加快一倍。他的舒張壓升高了15%，這是心臟泵出血液時的壓力，受到這個壓力時，心跳數字最容易發生變化。”

圣誕送禮不累人：

作預算

弄清楚自己在每個人身上想花多少錢，并且遵守預算。

列清單

詳細列出需要送禮的對象名單，這將緩減購物恐慌并且避免發生又忘了給愛人的姐妹買禮物的尷尬事情。

在網上搜索禮品

這不僅會給你靈感，也可以通過比較知道哪里可以買到最合適的東西。

網上購物

你完全可以在網上購買每一種東西。許多商務網站都實現了訂貨后的第二天送貨，并且可以享受到實體店沒有的網上折扣。

使用信用卡

信用卡結帳可以避免偷盜和財產損失。

錯開購物時間

如果你可以幾個月前就開始選購圣誕禮品，比如說一個月買一樣，那么你的錢包和身體都會慶祝壓力的降低。