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.
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