Treat Stress Research Paper

Sapolsky goes on to explain how stress in our lives can also lead to loss of libido and reproduction. During periods of stress, males can see a decrease in circulating testosterone due to a release of specific hormones in the brain which basically shut down the activity of the testes, which are responsible for testosterone release. On the female side, the author tells us that studies have shown how stress suppresses estrogen production, which in turn disrupts sexual behavior in women. (Sapolsky, 1994. p. 124)

Stress affects health in a number of ways. It is defined by James (2011) as pressure or tension that comes in many shapes and forms and furthermore the body and mind in particular reacts psychologically and even emotionally.

Stress is known to negatively impact health. Psychological responses, such as mood, emotion and coping, influence the way we perceive stress and the impact it has on the physiological response (Chida & Hamer, 2008). Past studies have used the hormone cortisol to test the stress response(Dickerson &

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.

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).

Firdaus Dhabhar gave a short lecture on August 19th, 2015 about the good effects that stress can have on our lives. I read two papers published by Dr. Dhabhar in the last five years, both concerning his research on the biological response of stress and how this can impact our daily lives as well as how it can be both detrimental and essential to good health. Each paper explored stress, one was more focused on the physical and the other focused on both the physical and the mental. Given my own project this summer, I was especially interested in the paper published by Aschbacher and colleagues in 2013 because they also explored cortisol reactivity to stress. While their project and my project looked at very different things in very different populations it was exciting to read more about cortisol and how people are exploring this hormone’s role in our stress

CBT is a better treatment alternative to pharmacological treatments because it targets the underlying cause of the disorder by reducing allostatic load through teaching stress management skills, and prevents other health conditions linked to chronic stress such as cardiovascular disease (Michopoulos, Mancini, Loucks, & Berga, 2013). Additionally, it prevents potential side effects of HRT and ovulation, and can foster better overall wellbeing and parenting skills of potential mothers. Given that there is a direct relationship between the psychogenic stress, increased cortisol and neuroendocrine imbalance, and negative health outcomes, it is important for physicians to be cognizant of the psychological, emotional, and social stressors of their patients, as they might directly cause their conditions, or may interfere with the patients’ ability to comply with their treatments, and recover. Since there may be many other illnesses that are directly influenced by stress, more research should be done on how stress interacts with other illness. Physicians should emphasize the importance of mental health and stress management techniques on patients’ health

Stress is a part of our daily lives but our body has a mechanism that keeps us at homeostasis. The Hypothalamic-Pituitary Adrenal Axis (HPA) maintains and controls our response to stimuli that disrupts this mechanism. From the periventricular nucleus in the hypothalamus, corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) is released traveling to the anterior pituitary through the hypophyseal portal vascular system. This triggers the releases of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which travels to the adrenal cortex and stimulates the release of cortisol. Once the balance is restored, negative feedback inhibits the release of the hormones (Figure 1). If stress is prolonged and the levels of cortisol or CRH remain high this balance can be disrupted causing a maladaptive response or allostatic load. This can lead to emotional disorders like depression and anxiety, heart disease, and diabetes.

Stress is another source of hormonal changes. When you're getting stressed, there is an organ called the adrenal gland that creates the stress hormone cortisol and puts it out into the body to enable the body to deal with stress.

Studies have shown that drinking black tea stimulates stress recovery and relaxation. In other words, consuming tea won't remove worry and stress for one's life, but it does speed up the recovery time period.

Chew gum. Studies suggest the act of chewing gum can reduce cortisol levels, helping to alleviate stress

Cortisol – commonly known as “the stress hormone” – is a steroid hormone regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, an interaction of endocrine glands thought to be crucial in adapting to behavioural and environmental changes. Cortisol effects many functions within the body, including control of blood sugar levels, regulating the metabolism, reducing inflammation and assisting in immune responses (Randall, 2010; Shu-Fen et al. 2015). The main function of cortisol is to restore homeostasis to the body following stress, and it is the primary hormone responsible for the stress response. Fluctuation of cortisol levels throughout the day is normal for humans, however, sustained high levels of cortisol can have adverse effects. These can include serious health implications

Central stress circuitry includes hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). There also exist a negative feedback loop between HPA axis and the immune system. Signaling is mediated by corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoid and their related receptors (Turnbull and Rivier, 1999). There also exists a negative feedback loop via glucocorticoid receptors and melanocorticoid receptors within the hippocampus (Turnbull and Rivier, 1999; Kellendonk et al., 2002). Dysregulation of HPA axis in rodents (Landgraf and Wigger, 2002; Jakovcecski et al., 2011) and in humans (Coryell et al., 2006) leads to anxiety and depression like symptoms respectively. Whereas, correction of the HPA axis with medications have shown improvement in depression (Wilkinson and Goodyer, 2011). Increase in levels of IL-1, TNF–α and increased mortality following immune challenge with LPS (Perretti et al., 1993; Goujon et al., 1996) have been reported in adrenalectomized rodents. The stress response in adrenalectomized rodents is reversible with dexamethasone treatment (Butler et al., 1989).

Chronic stress can also interfere with the body’s immune system directly through hormonal changes. Glucocorticoids-a hormone

Stress is a killer – quite literally, in fact. And unlike junk food and beer, there is no guilty pleasure to make it interesting to occasionally dabble. No, stress is all bad and for that reason anyway that we can reduce it is going to be a life saver – again, quite literally.