The Biology of Stress Keywords: stress, biology, adrenaline, cortisol

As we humans experience stress, a whole cascade of responses occur in our body. The level of the response depends upon both the size of the stress, and our personal ability to adapt. We usually perceive stress through our nervous system. Any change in our physical or emotional environment will be felt in our body as a stressful event. Some of the many examples include: Cold air Infections Hunger Change in our social life Loss of sleep Deadlines Criticism Threats to our safety

Once the change is felt by the nerves, it gets interpreted by the brain. If the thinking triggers the need for urgent or emergent response, a special part of the brain called the hypothalamus will be activated. The hypothalamus can start changes in both the nervous system and in the glandular system of the body. To activate the various glands in the body, the Hypothalamus will send a message to the Pituitary Gland located at the front of the brain. The Pituitary gland is a master control gland that can send a messenger hormone to the adrenal glands that are located on top of your kidneys. The adrenal glands in turn produce both adrenaline (also called epinephrine) and cortisol. Adrenaline is the primary hormone responsible for the fight or flight response. When this hormone is activated, you body gets ready to handle a major stress. Some of the body responses and how these responses help you fight or flee are listed in the chart below. Body Response Your hands perspire Your heart beats faster Your breathing increases Your skin blood vessels constrict Your eyes dilate Adaptive Effect to help you grip things better to help you get ready to run to help you run faster to move blood to your muscles to help you see better

Your liver releases sugar

to provide you with more energy

Adrenaline is a very quick acting hormone. The effect of adrenaline lasts only a few minutes in the body. The adrenaline functions primarily to produce a burst of response (if you were running from a lion for instance). If the stress is prolonged, eventually cortisol will be released in greater amounts. This cortisol helps continue the flow of energy to the body by shifting the metabolism to help burn carbohydrates, fat, and proteins. Normally, adrenaline levels in the body are very low. Cortisol, however, is a hormone that helps wake us up each day. The levels rise in the morning and then gradually taper down to a plateau shortly after lunch. Eventually, the levels drop in the late evening. You may notice that your energy follows a similar pattern. Many people feel most alert in the morning, then have that mid afternoon sag, and eventually become quite tired in the evening before bed. When stress becomes very chronic, this normal rhythm of the body can become disrupted. Cortisol levels can become higher throughout the day. The body will try to make extra cortisol to handle the demands created by the daily stressors that occur. If you do not have proper rest to help reset the levels, the imbalance will continue to increase over time. Eventually, the normal cycle of cortisol will become erratic. Most people experience this as a feeling of depletion throughout the day, punctuated by periodic feelings of anxiety or stress. If this pattern continues, the adrenals will eventually lose their ability to adapt to stress. Sleep will become disturbed, digestion could be affected, and overall energy will decline. Your bodys adaptive systems are highly evolved. You are at the top of the food chain after all. Millions of years of biological changes have occurred to make us very fit for our environment. The trouble is that our environment has seen incredible changes over the past 100 years. These rapid changes in the types and frequencies of stresses have created a problem. We humans have not been able to adapt our biology to the new environment. And many of our current modern diseases are the direct result.

This is an original work authored by Todd A. Hoover, MD, DHt.