Adrenal Fatigue

In an acute stressor, the immune system is heightened. But is suppressed in a chronic stressor. In this situation the cortisol levels rise, and weaken the immune system. This weaken system can make the human body more susceptible to serious disease, infections

Most people have heard about cortisol and that it is related to both stress and to weight gain, but not a lot of people understand much about it beyond that. It is actually a hormone that is released naturally by your adrenal glands. This happens naturally when you are under stress. The point of it is to help your body respond to what is going on around you. The trouble occurs when the levels stay high for too long. When people remain in a constant state of stress, they have increased cortisol levels. This, in turn, can cause health problems. Some of the problems that this can cause or exacerbate are weight gain, disrupted sleep, high blood pressure, low energy, and a bad mood.

Ferguson’s article also speculates that another negative effect of increased cortisol levels is depression and chronic fatigue. The hypothalamus-

Chronic fatigue is the first symptoms when it comes to this disease. When you have chronic fatigue you will experience an extreme tiredness that cannot be explained. You will find it harder to do the things that you used to do with ease and you may want to sleep all the time.

Cortisol is also known as the “ The Stress Hormone” and “Public Health Enemy Number One” according to Christopher Bergland (1). Cortisol has its way in our bodies because with too much or to low our bodies will have problems. Even though having too much cortisol in our bodies is bad, it stills an essential part for our body because it influences and regulates many of the changes that occur in the body in response to stress (3).

Adrenal glands are endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys (Shier et al., 2009). The adrenal glands secrete hormones that increase heart rate, the force of cardiac muscle contraction, breathing rate, elevate blood pressure and blood glucose level. This activity prepares the body foe energy expending action, sometimes called fight or flight responses (Shier et al., 2009).

Thank you for this information that you added on this assignment. The adrenal glands play an important role in the body, and they are located above the kidneys which secrete many hormones essential for the body's normal functions. People with adrenal insufficiency do not produce enough of two vital hormones, called cortisol and aldosterone. Cortisol's most important function is to help the body respond to stress, such as surgery and illness, and recover from infections. Therefore, treatment of adrenal insufficiency results focuses on replacing or substituting those hormones “cortisol and aldosterone”. Cortisol deficiency is treated with replacement oral glucocorticoid medication. Prednisone or hydrocortisone is used most commonly. Fludrocortisone

Cortisol also partially shuts down the immune system when levels are high. It interferes with T-cell production and function, making your body more susceptible to invading pathogens. Ever notice how people who are constantly stressed are always getting sick? Or how a person can go through a major stressor and right after overcoming it

Chronic fatigue syndrome is not the same as "chronic fatigue". Fatigue is a common symptom in many illnesses, but CFS is a multi-systemic disease and is relatively rare by comparison. Definitions require several features, the most common being severe mental and physical exhaustion which is "unrelieved by rest” and may be worsened by even trivial exertion (a mandatory diagnostic criterion according to some systems). Most diagnostic criteria

The adrenal gland is an organ involved in endocrine functions in the body. It is divided into adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla. The adrenal medulla is part of the sympathetic nervous system. The adrenal cortex is part of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal endocrine system. It consists of three layers which are:

The adrenal glands are pyramid-shaped glands located on top of each kidney (Brashers & Jones, 2010). The layers of the adrenal gland include the outer capsule, the adrenal cortex, and the inner adrenal medulla (Brashers & Jones, 2010). The primary function of the adrenal glands is steroid hormone secretion, which is stimulated by ACTH from the pituitary gland (Brashers & Jones, 2010).

Stress causes the build up of cortisol. Excess cortisol- the body’s ‘stress hormone’- is responsible for the ‘symptoms’ of stress. The anxiety, sleep problems, digestive issues, headaches and depression that you experience when you are stressed are all as a result of an excess of cortisol in your body. By decreasing your cortisol levels, you will be able to eliminate these negative ramifications of stress.

The adrenal glands produce and secret important hormones that help control heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and the way the body reacts to stress or danger. (National Cancer Institute, 2014)

Adrenal insufficiency is still a significant challenge for both patients and their physicians, but also scientists and researchers. In the past decade long-term studies with adequate follow-up have shown surge in mortality and morbidity,

Adrenal glands, located near the kidneys, secrete several hormones that are activated by the nervous system. These hormones dictate the body’s reaction to stressful situations. Each person secretes a different amount of hormones, therefore affecting behavior in stressful situations differently (Morris & Maisto, 2005).