This week we'll continue our discussion on stress and its impact on us. So far, everything I've talked about has pertained to medicine's "normal", a 20 year old male. While I won't agree that today's average 20 year old male is either healthy or "normal", we use this group in medicine as our standard test subject for one simple reason: we can get 20 year old males to do just about anything for beer money. We find it more difficult to get 20 year old women to do the same, and once they are out of college and into the work force, we have a harder time getting male subjects as well. For this week's discussion, it's important to remember that men and women are different (and that's OK), kids are NOT little adults, and we change as we age.
Women and Stress
In general, women secrete a higher level of cortisol (remember that's our hormonal end product of exposure to stressors). This higher secretion means that all of the cortisol effects will be higher in women than men. However, there are some differences in how cortisol affects women. When a man's brain is exposed to cortisol, we found they had a decreased memory function overall, but specifically a decrease in spatial memory. We find neither of these happen in women. When I lecture to peace officers, they are not surprised by this. In stressful situations, women will have a better recollection of the details of what happened, and not fill in as much as men do. That means that in a given stressful situation, women are generally the more reliable eye witnesses.
The cortisol production fluctuates in women according to their menstrual cycle. This makes sense when you look at the biochemical pathways, and how intricate hormones interact. Starting on day one of the menstrual cycle (follicular phase), women will have a blunted response for the next 14 days. This means they will produce less cortisol during this time in response to stressors. For the last 14 days of the cycle (luteal phase), there is a significant increase in production. In this time period, stress will have a more detrimental effect on their health. When we add in oral contraceptives, we see a response much like that of the follicular phase. If you look at total levels given the same stressor, you see cortisol secretion as follows (high to low): luteal > men > follicular > oral contraceptives. Does this mean oral contraceptives are a good thing in relation to the stress response? No. The negative effects created by oral contraceptives far outweigh any changes we may see in relation to stress. Look for a future blog that explains how oral contraceptives are causing many health problems for women today.
While women have a higher level of cortisol secretion compared to men, they also have a blunted response to its feedback. Their brains are less sensitive to its effects, so when the levels increase, they have a slower "off" switch than do men. This means it will stay in their system longer, creating more potential negative effects in the long run. When we add the fact that cortisol inhibits the secretion of estrogens and progesterone to the equation, we see that stress can have a significant effect on fertility and the ability to get and stay pregnant. This makes perfect sense if you consider the developmental aspect: are you concerned with reproducing when the saber tooth tiger is breathing down your neck? Probably not.
In addition to differences in memory and feedback, cortisol also changes how the brain of a woman focuses. When exposed to stressors, the limbic section of a woman's brain shows significant increase in function. This section of our brain is where all of our "feelings" are housed and expressed. There is also a significant increase in ruminative thinking or rewinding. When stressed, women start rewinding and reviewing past events, what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". They use their past memories, going over and over them, trying to make sense of what's happening now. Stress also increases anxiety more in women than men.
When we compare overt actions in response to stress, we find another significant difference. While men express the classic "fight or flight" mechanism, women will express a "tend and befriend" response instead. When you think again of development, this makes sense. With most hunter/gatherer societies, men could be gone from camp for most of the day, and often for extended periods on week long hunts. That left the camp with minimal protection from neighboring tribes who weren't always friendly. If an unwelcome visitor came calling, a "fight or flight" response could often lead to unwanted trouble. If instead, a "tend and befriend" attitude, where the unwelcome visitor was welcomed in, tended to, and conversed with was adopted, it could often give the hunters time to get back to camp and expel the visitor. Different survival mechanisms develop based on different situations.
Stress and Kids
In Mom's Stress Isn't Trivial, I discussed prenatal stress exposure and the profound changes it can have on our kids. In addition to that, we see long term effects when our kids are stressed. Early life stress can elevate CRH levels for life, creating all the negative effects associated, including increased risk of affect disorders, like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar. Before puberty, we see kids reacting the same, regardless of sex, but once adolescence starts, we see a divergence based on sex, where boys start acting like men, and girls like women.
Stress and Aging
It's very interesting to look at the stress response as we age. When we look at women, we really don't see much change except a gradual decline in response. However, when we look at men, we see their responses, including hormone levels, biochemical responses, and reactions, look much more like adult women, with the overall response being less. Whether this is part of the deterioration caused by aging or causes some of this deterioration, we really don't know. I hypothesize that if we could improve our response to stressors early in life and reduce their overall effects, we might see less deterioration, but I haven't seen anyone out there yet studying that.
It is important to remember that stress affects us differently based on our age and sex. Expecting a male response from a female, or a female reaction from a male, will only lead to more stress to ourselves. Part of coping with stress well and minimizing its effects on us includes knowing how to best interact with those around us. Treating your kids and your spouse the same isn't effective. Knowing those who influence your life, and how they react compared to yourself can have a profound impact on your happiness.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Stress Is a Killer #3
Over the past few weeks' blogs, I've talked about how stress can affect the function of our bodies, and this week we'll continue along that same line as we explore further how the brain is impacted by stress. Remembering that cortisol is the end product of our body encountering stressors, let's look at how cortisol affects the brain and nervous system.
Brain Chemistry 101:
The nerves that make up your nervous system communicate through biochemicals called neurotransmitters. To date, we've identified over 100 of these, and they have a wide range of impacts on our function. Cortisol has an impact on many of these, and therefore directly impacts how our brains function. Since most of us want a healthy and optimally functioning brain, controlling stress in our lives and helping our bodies minimize the reaction to stressors can have a profound impact on our brain and mental-emotional health.
One of the biggest impacts cortisol has on our nervous system is to increase the amount of norepinephrine (NE). NE is not only a potent neurotransmitter that stimulates our nervous system into a fight or flight mode, but it is also a hormone that does the same thing on a system wide basis. It does things like increase heart rate and blood pressure, open the bronchioles so we can get more air in the lungs, increases blood flow and reflex speed of the muscles, and shunts more blood to the brain. While more blood to the brain is a good thing, it does this at the expense of the digestive system, thereby making it more difficult to process your food. Long term exposure also poses problems for the heart and blood vessels due to the increased heart rate and blood pressure.
With increased exposure to stressors, the brain releases more corticotropic releasing factor (CRH). In addition to the hormonal aspects we discussed in previous blogs, it also has a local impact on the brain, impairing sleep, enhancing vigilance, and decreasing melatonin. Sleep and vigilance are problems for many, and melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant our body produces that also helps with sleep. Overall, excessive CRH production creates problems with a restful night's sleep.
Another neurotransmitter that is increased with cortisol is glutamate, which is excitatory to the brain, and can be neurotoxic at high levels. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA), which is also increased with cortisol, enhances the effects of glutamate, making it more toxic. It is important for reconsolidation of memories, or what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". When NMDA is high, we tend to spend more time thinking of past events, which can not only make it difficult to concentrate on the moment, but also can significantly increase our stress level. In addition, NMDA itself is neurotoxic when elevated.
While cortisol increases NE, CRH, glutamate, and NMDA (all not good in the long term), it also decreases certain other neurotransmitters, including Brain Derived Neuronal Factor (BDNF), gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), serotonin, dopamine, neuropeptide Y, and galanin. BDNF is something you really want a good amount in your brain, since it is one of the important factors that helps nerve cells heal. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps us focus. Serotonin has a huge impact on mood and keeping us happy while dopamine is necessary for movement and motor function. Neuropeptide Y and galanin protect our brains from the effects of CRH and minimize anxiety. All of these neurotransmitters that are decreased with excessive cortisol we want in good amounts for healthy brains.
Another chemical that is suppressed by cortisol is oxytocin. While most noted as a hormone that stimulates labor and milk production after pregnancy, for many years we were clueless as to why it appeared in males. We now know it plays an important role in our social interactions. Oxytocin is released when we are among those whose company we enjoy, and is very important for decreasing anxiety. It also reduces our blood pressure and increases our pain thresholds. It's has been likened to a "love hormone" as well, since it is what seems to be released during the courtship phase of a relationship and after sex.
Beyond neurotrasmitters, cortisol creates functional changes in the brain. It creates significant problems specifically with memory. Part of the issue deals with transitioning short term memories into long term storage, while it also negatively affects our spatial memory function. This is our ability to remember details about stressful situations, and is one reason why the police may find several witnesses that all saw the exact same thing, yet none of them recall the same scene. By having spatial memory suppressed, it makes the brain "fill in the gaps" with what it thinks should have been happening, or with other memories that may be less traumatic.
As a whole, it can be simply stated that either long term or single high event exposure to stress can significantly increase the risk of affect disorders, most notably mood disorders like anxiety and depression, but also things like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoia, and delusions. In plain English, your brain does not like stress, and it will become damaged if you don't effectively deal with the stressors in your life.
In future blogs, we'll continue to look at how stress affects us, and how we can minimize it's impact.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Brain Chemistry 101:
The nerves that make up your nervous system communicate through biochemicals called neurotransmitters. To date, we've identified over 100 of these, and they have a wide range of impacts on our function. Cortisol has an impact on many of these, and therefore directly impacts how our brains function. Since most of us want a healthy and optimally functioning brain, controlling stress in our lives and helping our bodies minimize the reaction to stressors can have a profound impact on our brain and mental-emotional health.
One of the biggest impacts cortisol has on our nervous system is to increase the amount of norepinephrine (NE). NE is not only a potent neurotransmitter that stimulates our nervous system into a fight or flight mode, but it is also a hormone that does the same thing on a system wide basis. It does things like increase heart rate and blood pressure, open the bronchioles so we can get more air in the lungs, increases blood flow and reflex speed of the muscles, and shunts more blood to the brain. While more blood to the brain is a good thing, it does this at the expense of the digestive system, thereby making it more difficult to process your food. Long term exposure also poses problems for the heart and blood vessels due to the increased heart rate and blood pressure.
With increased exposure to stressors, the brain releases more corticotropic releasing factor (CRH). In addition to the hormonal aspects we discussed in previous blogs, it also has a local impact on the brain, impairing sleep, enhancing vigilance, and decreasing melatonin. Sleep and vigilance are problems for many, and melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant our body produces that also helps with sleep. Overall, excessive CRH production creates problems with a restful night's sleep.
Another neurotransmitter that is increased with cortisol is glutamate, which is excitatory to the brain, and can be neurotoxic at high levels. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA), which is also increased with cortisol, enhances the effects of glutamate, making it more toxic. It is important for reconsolidation of memories, or what I call "ruminatin' and cogitatin'". When NMDA is high, we tend to spend more time thinking of past events, which can not only make it difficult to concentrate on the moment, but also can significantly increase our stress level. In addition, NMDA itself is neurotoxic when elevated.
While cortisol increases NE, CRH, glutamate, and NMDA (all not good in the long term), it also decreases certain other neurotransmitters, including Brain Derived Neuronal Factor (BDNF), gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), serotonin, dopamine, neuropeptide Y, and galanin. BDNF is something you really want a good amount in your brain, since it is one of the important factors that helps nerve cells heal. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that helps us focus. Serotonin has a huge impact on mood and keeping us happy while dopamine is necessary for movement and motor function. Neuropeptide Y and galanin protect our brains from the effects of CRH and minimize anxiety. All of these neurotransmitters that are decreased with excessive cortisol we want in good amounts for healthy brains.
Another chemical that is suppressed by cortisol is oxytocin. While most noted as a hormone that stimulates labor and milk production after pregnancy, for many years we were clueless as to why it appeared in males. We now know it plays an important role in our social interactions. Oxytocin is released when we are among those whose company we enjoy, and is very important for decreasing anxiety. It also reduces our blood pressure and increases our pain thresholds. It's has been likened to a "love hormone" as well, since it is what seems to be released during the courtship phase of a relationship and after sex.
Beyond neurotrasmitters, cortisol creates functional changes in the brain. It creates significant problems specifically with memory. Part of the issue deals with transitioning short term memories into long term storage, while it also negatively affects our spatial memory function. This is our ability to remember details about stressful situations, and is one reason why the police may find several witnesses that all saw the exact same thing, yet none of them recall the same scene. By having spatial memory suppressed, it makes the brain "fill in the gaps" with what it thinks should have been happening, or with other memories that may be less traumatic.
As a whole, it can be simply stated that either long term or single high event exposure to stress can significantly increase the risk of affect disorders, most notably mood disorders like anxiety and depression, but also things like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoia, and delusions. In plain English, your brain does not like stress, and it will become damaged if you don't effectively deal with the stressors in your life.
In future blogs, we'll continue to look at how stress affects us, and how we can minimize it's impact.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Stress Is a Killer #2
In this week's blog, we'll continue to look at how stress affects the body. In How Full Is Your Barrel, I discussed the basics of what stress is. In Stress Is a Killer #1, I started explaining the hormonal pathways involved with stress and how they can impact your body. This week, we'll continue to explore hormonal impacts of stress, and look at how stress affects you differently with repeated or prolonged exposure.
Cortisol is the main hormonal end product of stress in the body. It is a steroid hormone, meaning it is made from cholesterol. It moves freely into our cells, and impacts the expression of our DNA by stimulating a receptor on the nuclear envelope. While most hormones have a fairly steady level in the body, cortisol has a diurnal variance, where it is high in the morning, decreases throughout the day except for an after lunch spike, and increases again as we sleep to be high in the morning. Changes in the diurnal rhythm can create significant problems. Too high in the evening, and our brain can't shut down when we're ready to sleep. Too low in the morning, and we can't get out of bed in the morning. No afternoon spike, and we're ready for an afternoon nap. It's not just about the amount of cortisol we have, but also about how much we have when.
In addition to cortisol, there are other hormones that are released in response to stressors. One of these hormones is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Where cortisol tears into our muscle stores to give us needed energy and is locally destructive, DHEA is protective to a variety of tissues. It generally counteracts the effects of cortisol, most importantly in our brain. DHEA is a regenerative hormone, and is considered by some to be almost a "fountain of youth", since we see decreasing levels of DHEA as we age. Some "anti-aging" doctors regularly prescribe DHEA to their patients because of this. Unfortunately, since this regenerative hormone is also a precurser to many other hormones including estrogens, progesterone, and testosterone, this can be dangerous. Adding a hormone like DHEA without proper testing is like playing Plinko. You add the hormone in at the top, but you never know exactly where it's going downstream. You may end up with excess estrogens in a man or testosterone in a woman, neither of which is desired.
There is a reason DHEA and cortisol are released together. As cortisol has the chance to save our lives, DHEA is there to shorten its duration and protect us if possible. One of the problems we see today, is that long term exposure to stressors will stimulate the body to make cortisol at the expense of DHEA, and we end up with unchecked cortisol and no regeneration afterward. This is another reason some doctors will recommend DHEA supplementally. Again, I caution against this without proper testing to make sure one is really deficient and doesn't end up negatively affecting their other hormones.
Our normal stress response, as defined by Hans Selye, the father of stress research, has three phases to it. Initially, we have an alarm reaction (AR). We then move to a stage of resistance (SR), and finally a stage of exhaustion (SE).
The graphical representation illustrates that as our bodies encounter stressors, we initially have a decreased resistance to them. Think of the first real cold day in November. You know, when it gets down into the low 20's, and we're all complaining about how cold it is, since it was in the 70's just a few weeks ago. Your resistance to cold on that first cold day is less than normal, since you haven't had recent exposure to that stressor. Compare your reaction in November to your reaction in the dead of winter; mid-January when it's been below zero for two consecutive weeks, and we finally have a nice sunny day and climb to a balmy 15. We're rejoicing at how warm it is on that day, yet it's actually colder than it was in November. You're now in the stage of resistance, and you can tolerate more of that stressor than before. If, however, you were to live in a climate where it never ever got warm, and were always cold, eventually, your body's resistance to cold would be exhausted, and you'd enter stage 3. At this point, even 40 seems cold. I see this commonly in my elderly patients. They really don't like cold any more than they like heat. They want a constant 75 degrees all year long. Their resistance to both cold and heat has been exhausted.
How each of us travels through these three phases depends on our individuality and the type of stressor. The stage of resistance can last for decades for some, yet only for a few hours in others. We are each unique, and we have no ability to predict response time..
As we move into stage 2 and 3 though, our response to the stressor changes. Instead of getting as much corticotropic releasing hormone (CRH) from the brain, we get more arginine vasopressin (AVP) instead. Where CRH increases fear related behaviors and reduces reward expectation, AVP increases water retention instead. That means we have the same stressor, but our blood pressure ends up rising instead of our behavior and expectations changing. Repeated or long term exposure of the brain to cortisol also creates significant changes. We see damaging of certain brain structures, shrinking of the brain as a whole, and a sensitization of the brain to cortisol (so it does more damage) and of the adrenals to ACTH (so we get more cortisol released). While we aren't totally sure this is permanent damage to the brain, we are seeing that it is at least somewhat irreversible. Since the structures that seem most affected by cortisol are those that are related to memory, any negative changes are a problem.
Dealing with stress in a positive way is vital to our long term health. We'll continue to discuss how stress affects us and what we can do to help offset the negative effects in the coming weeks.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Cortisol is the main hormonal end product of stress in the body. It is a steroid hormone, meaning it is made from cholesterol. It moves freely into our cells, and impacts the expression of our DNA by stimulating a receptor on the nuclear envelope. While most hormones have a fairly steady level in the body, cortisol has a diurnal variance, where it is high in the morning, decreases throughout the day except for an after lunch spike, and increases again as we sleep to be high in the morning. Changes in the diurnal rhythm can create significant problems. Too high in the evening, and our brain can't shut down when we're ready to sleep. Too low in the morning, and we can't get out of bed in the morning. No afternoon spike, and we're ready for an afternoon nap. It's not just about the amount of cortisol we have, but also about how much we have when.
In addition to cortisol, there are other hormones that are released in response to stressors. One of these hormones is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Where cortisol tears into our muscle stores to give us needed energy and is locally destructive, DHEA is protective to a variety of tissues. It generally counteracts the effects of cortisol, most importantly in our brain. DHEA is a regenerative hormone, and is considered by some to be almost a "fountain of youth", since we see decreasing levels of DHEA as we age. Some "anti-aging" doctors regularly prescribe DHEA to their patients because of this. Unfortunately, since this regenerative hormone is also a precurser to many other hormones including estrogens, progesterone, and testosterone, this can be dangerous. Adding a hormone like DHEA without proper testing is like playing Plinko. You add the hormone in at the top, but you never know exactly where it's going downstream. You may end up with excess estrogens in a man or testosterone in a woman, neither of which is desired.
There is a reason DHEA and cortisol are released together. As cortisol has the chance to save our lives, DHEA is there to shorten its duration and protect us if possible. One of the problems we see today, is that long term exposure to stressors will stimulate the body to make cortisol at the expense of DHEA, and we end up with unchecked cortisol and no regeneration afterward. This is another reason some doctors will recommend DHEA supplementally. Again, I caution against this without proper testing to make sure one is really deficient and doesn't end up negatively affecting their other hormones.
Our normal stress response, as defined by Hans Selye, the father of stress research, has three phases to it. Initially, we have an alarm reaction (AR). We then move to a stage of resistance (SR), and finally a stage of exhaustion (SE).
The graphical representation illustrates that as our bodies encounter stressors, we initially have a decreased resistance to them. Think of the first real cold day in November. You know, when it gets down into the low 20's, and we're all complaining about how cold it is, since it was in the 70's just a few weeks ago. Your resistance to cold on that first cold day is less than normal, since you haven't had recent exposure to that stressor. Compare your reaction in November to your reaction in the dead of winter; mid-January when it's been below zero for two consecutive weeks, and we finally have a nice sunny day and climb to a balmy 15. We're rejoicing at how warm it is on that day, yet it's actually colder than it was in November. You're now in the stage of resistance, and you can tolerate more of that stressor than before. If, however, you were to live in a climate where it never ever got warm, and were always cold, eventually, your body's resistance to cold would be exhausted, and you'd enter stage 3. At this point, even 40 seems cold. I see this commonly in my elderly patients. They really don't like cold any more than they like heat. They want a constant 75 degrees all year long. Their resistance to both cold and heat has been exhausted.
How each of us travels through these three phases depends on our individuality and the type of stressor. The stage of resistance can last for decades for some, yet only for a few hours in others. We are each unique, and we have no ability to predict response time..
As we move into stage 2 and 3 though, our response to the stressor changes. Instead of getting as much corticotropic releasing hormone (CRH) from the brain, we get more arginine vasopressin (AVP) instead. Where CRH increases fear related behaviors and reduces reward expectation, AVP increases water retention instead. That means we have the same stressor, but our blood pressure ends up rising instead of our behavior and expectations changing. Repeated or long term exposure of the brain to cortisol also creates significant changes. We see damaging of certain brain structures, shrinking of the brain as a whole, and a sensitization of the brain to cortisol (so it does more damage) and of the adrenals to ACTH (so we get more cortisol released). While we aren't totally sure this is permanent damage to the brain, we are seeing that it is at least somewhat irreversible. Since the structures that seem most affected by cortisol are those that are related to memory, any negative changes are a problem.
Dealing with stress in a positive way is vital to our long term health. We'll continue to discuss how stress affects us and what we can do to help offset the negative effects in the coming weeks.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or listen to my radio show.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Stress is a Killer #1
I've written in previous blogs about some of the problems stress causes in our bodies and there are countless websites out there that talk about stress and how it can cause this or that, but I have yet to see anyone paint a whole body picture that explains the whole body impact of stress. Most talk about how it affects our moods or maybe a little about our hormones, but nothing about the big picture. So, here's the big picture of stress. If you don't handle stress in your life well, it will not only shorten your life, but make you sick along the way. This is the first in a series that will look at the whole body's reaction to unchecked stress.
Hormones
The main response to stress in your body is a release of a variety of hormones, and these hormones have tremendous impact on you. The end product is cortisol, but along with that also comes corticotropic releasing factor (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), arginine vasopressin aka anti-diuretic hormone (AVP or ADH), and aldosterone. Individually and collectively, these hormones have significant effects on our systems and can cause serious disease processes if not in balance.
The actions of CRH on the system include the following:
activation of fear related behaviors
reduced reward expectation
reduced growth
reduced testosterone production
slower stomach emptying
increased movement through the intestines
If we look at the historical perspective of stress, these make perfect sense. If you looked over your shoulder and saw a saber tooth tiger, you'd probably say it would cause a little stress reaction in your body. In this case, increased fear and reduced reward expectation would be a good thing. Just surviving is the new reward, and who needs growth or testosterone (which stimulates libido) right now. You also don't need to worry about digestion, but you might just end up clearing out the colon before you run.
AVP/ADH has always been known to stimulate the kidneys to conserve water. Traditionally, we thought it was only released in response to a drop in blood volume. We now know that it is also released in response to stress. If you end up in a fight with that tiger, you will probably lose some blood, and you want to keep as much water as you can. What if you don't lose the blood though? What happens to that conserved water? It simply shows up as an increase in blood pressure.
ACTH stimulates the release of both cortisol and aldosterone. Aldosterone works on the kidneys like AVP/ADH to conserve water and raise blood pressure. However, cortisol can act like aldosterone and do the same thing. In addition, it does the following:
Increases:
alertness
heart rate
blood pressure
blood sugar
protein breakdown
fat mobilization from hips and thighs
calcium mobilization from bones
Decreases:
inflammation
insulin sensitivity
white blood cell migration
phagocytosis (blood cells devouring pathogens)
blood levels of lymphocytes (immune system)
thyroid function
sex hormone levels
If we think of cortisol as being a "fight or flight" hormone, most of this makes sense. You want to be alert to danger; increased heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar all increase your body's immediate ability to react; protein breakdown and fat mobilization from the hips and thighs give your body more energy sources if needed; and calcium is necessary for muscle (including your heart) contraction. Decreasing inflammation sounds counter intuitive, but your body really isn't concerned with healing at this point, only surviving. Insulin sensitivity befuddles some, but we have to remember that insulin is much more than just a hormone which allows sugar into cells. It is first and foremost a growth and repair hormone, and we have little need to grow or repair right now. White blood cell migration, phagocytosis, and lymphocytes are all involved with the immune system, and we really don't care if we're fighting an infection; again, we're in survival mode. Thyroid and sex hormone function are secondary to survival, so suppressing these short term is fine.
As a whole, cortisol has significant impacts on our body systems, and for a short period of time, we don't see issues. The problems surface when we have prolonged exposure to cortisol, or we don't do anything to reset the levels. If you combine the effects I've listed so far, you'll see problems with increasing blood pressure and heart rate, increasing blood sugar, suppression of the immune system and healing, and skewing of thyroid and sex hormones. When we look at society today, all of these are major problems.
In the next stress related blog, I'll discuss how stress affects other body systems and what we can do to help reduce these effects, thereby increasing the quality of our lives while also extending the quantity.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
Hormones
The main response to stress in your body is a release of a variety of hormones, and these hormones have tremendous impact on you. The end product is cortisol, but along with that also comes corticotropic releasing factor (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), arginine vasopressin aka anti-diuretic hormone (AVP or ADH), and aldosterone. Individually and collectively, these hormones have significant effects on our systems and can cause serious disease processes if not in balance.
The actions of CRH on the system include the following:
activation of fear related behaviors
reduced reward expectation
reduced growth
reduced testosterone production
slower stomach emptying
increased movement through the intestines
If we look at the historical perspective of stress, these make perfect sense. If you looked over your shoulder and saw a saber tooth tiger, you'd probably say it would cause a little stress reaction in your body. In this case, increased fear and reduced reward expectation would be a good thing. Just surviving is the new reward, and who needs growth or testosterone (which stimulates libido) right now. You also don't need to worry about digestion, but you might just end up clearing out the colon before you run.
AVP/ADH has always been known to stimulate the kidneys to conserve water. Traditionally, we thought it was only released in response to a drop in blood volume. We now know that it is also released in response to stress. If you end up in a fight with that tiger, you will probably lose some blood, and you want to keep as much water as you can. What if you don't lose the blood though? What happens to that conserved water? It simply shows up as an increase in blood pressure.
ACTH stimulates the release of both cortisol and aldosterone. Aldosterone works on the kidneys like AVP/ADH to conserve water and raise blood pressure. However, cortisol can act like aldosterone and do the same thing. In addition, it does the following:
Increases:
alertness
heart rate
blood pressure
blood sugar
protein breakdown
fat mobilization from hips and thighs
calcium mobilization from bones
Decreases:
inflammation
insulin sensitivity
white blood cell migration
phagocytosis (blood cells devouring pathogens)
blood levels of lymphocytes (immune system)
thyroid function
sex hormone levels
If we think of cortisol as being a "fight or flight" hormone, most of this makes sense. You want to be alert to danger; increased heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar all increase your body's immediate ability to react; protein breakdown and fat mobilization from the hips and thighs give your body more energy sources if needed; and calcium is necessary for muscle (including your heart) contraction. Decreasing inflammation sounds counter intuitive, but your body really isn't concerned with healing at this point, only surviving. Insulin sensitivity befuddles some, but we have to remember that insulin is much more than just a hormone which allows sugar into cells. It is first and foremost a growth and repair hormone, and we have little need to grow or repair right now. White blood cell migration, phagocytosis, and lymphocytes are all involved with the immune system, and we really don't care if we're fighting an infection; again, we're in survival mode. Thyroid and sex hormone function are secondary to survival, so suppressing these short term is fine.
As a whole, cortisol has significant impacts on our body systems, and for a short period of time, we don't see issues. The problems surface when we have prolonged exposure to cortisol, or we don't do anything to reset the levels. If you combine the effects I've listed so far, you'll see problems with increasing blood pressure and heart rate, increasing blood sugar, suppression of the immune system and healing, and skewing of thyroid and sex hormones. When we look at society today, all of these are major problems.
In the next stress related blog, I'll discuss how stress affects other body systems and what we can do to help reduce these effects, thereby increasing the quality of our lives while also extending the quantity.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
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