Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

The author gives exemplary examples of the short term and long term effects of stress. The author goes on to state that the short term effect is beneficial but the long term is not. “Mild stress can be beneficial. It can help you

1. Dr. Sapolsky’s research in the Masai Mara National Park of Kenya involved collecting blood samples from baboons to measure hormones involved in the stress response. After anaesthetizing the baboon in an unassuming way (to avoid hormones produced from anticipatory stress) he collected blood samples from their bodies.

Stress has a huge impact on the immune system. The immune system is interconnected. For example the immune, nervous, and endocrine system is linked through specialized communication pathways involving hormones, neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and immune cell productions. Stress reactions can directly affect the various response systems and how they handle the neuroendocrine-products. This stress reaction directly affects the hypothalamus and pituitary peptides through the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. Some of these stressors might be life events, anxiety, and excitements.

Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers is a book about the physiology of stress. It gets into great detail about what exactly is going on inside the body during periods of high stress, and also what short and long term affects are caused by that stress. The first chapter give a brief description of each chapter in the rest of the book. Each subsequent chapter explains different stressors, levels of stress, and hormonal responses to stress. Many of the chapters also include research and discoveries on how stress affects the human body, many of which are somewhat recent discoveries, only occurring in the last one hundred years or so. Robert Sapolsky is able to explain to his readers much about the physiology of stress and how endocrinology plays the most

They have also found that there are strong links between prolonged stress and disorders, mentally and physically. Kiecolt-Glaser et al 1995 also carried out research into the relationship between Stress and the Immune System. Kiecolt-Glaser et al 1995 = == ==

Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus, is a chronic illness this means that it has no cure and the symptoms persist over a long period of time. This illness is a result of an imbalance of hormones, insulin, produced in the pancreas. Insulin plays an important role in how the body uses food. Insulin enables the cells in the bloodstream to absorb and use glucose for fuel. If the pancreas produces too little or no insulin or if the insulin doesn’t work properly the person may become diabetic. Therefore, diabetics are not able to properly convert food into fuels needed by the body to function, which can seriously lead to physical consequences.

The National Geographic film, A Portrait of a Killer, examines the types of stress that living beings can endure, and how it can thus affect the rest of their bodies. Severe chronic stress can lead even lead to the destruction of brain cells. Dr. Robert Sapolsky is a neurobiologist of Stanford University who has been researching stress for over thirty years. In order to study stress and its implications upon nonhumans, he went to Africa to study baboons. This species has only three hours of stress caused by eating, and the rest of their daily routine is consumed by about nine hours of free time. Much like Western society, baboons socially stress out one another, as they have social hierarchies to regulate how them interact with one another.

Animals and Humans have a biological stress response intended to facilitate survival in the case of a life threatening attack or severe illness. This is commonly referred to the “fight or flight” response. Some primates, including humans have developed the unhealthy propensity to trigger this response for psychological or social reasons. Humans in particular experience the stress response exponentially more often for psychological reasons than for the purpose of survival (Stress, 2008). For example, we are may feel “stressed out” about work or school and if we think about it too much and get upset, we may experience a stress response Just by thinking about something that is bothering us, we can trigger the biological “fight or flight”

The video “Stress Portrait of a Killer” was enlightening. The correlation between each individual’s placement in the hierarchy and their level of stress was not surprising. In fact, it made a great deal of sense. When one is on the lower end of the spectrum, it is a reasonable to anticipate higher levels of stress than when one is at the higher end. The latter, has more control over what is happening in their lives which in turn eliminates that stress. What I found most interesting, is that stress lowers the body’s immunity. I had no idea that the brain cuts non-essential systems like the immune system when stress is present. I found this fact fascinating and rather concerning. For as long as I can remember, I have been very susceptible to

Imagine, one day you woke up with fur all over your body. You look around and see that you 're in some type of lab but you do not know where. You see others like you and other different types of animals. They look as if they are sick or something. I could tell they did not like being here, but I did not know why. Cages on top of cages full of animals, all have swollen eyes, patches of fur missing, and even skin missing. Some of the animals looked like they were on the verge of dying. Seconds later, you see something coming toward you, with nowhere to go,something gets put around your eye. Moments later, you have pains coming from that eye and there is nothing you can do about it.

An investigation that involved people who reported problems was conducted. Patients were asked a large number of questions, including if they had contact with animals, as well as what they

Ever hear the saying you can tell a lot about a person from the way their dog acts? Domestic animals have a peculiar way of bonding with their owners, becoming rather perceptive to their master’s habits and emotions. Veterinarians are able to observe these mirrored emotions by working with these animals. Dr. Herbert Ratcliffe, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, stated in 1956 during an interview with the Saturday Evening Post, “Domestic animals are pretty accurate mirrors of trends in our habits and behavior” (Frank, pg. 94). This insight can also be utilized at a population level. Animals contract very similar diseases to humans, after all humans are apes and apes are animals. Through studying animals confined to zoos, veterinarians can provide insight to the diseases and genetic disorders that humans could become susceptible to when presented with scenarios of close proximity and over-crowding. During the same interview, Dr. Ratcliffe had explained his research on a group of animals housed at the Philadelphia Zoo between 1947 and 1951. The zoo started with three animals in 1947. By 1951 the population had grown to 30, and when the interview had been published there was only one of the animals left. As the population of the animals grew, the animals were ravaged by arterial diseases, cancer,

Scientists have a moral, and practical obligation to keep these animals in good health while they are under captive conditions (Gewin, 2008). Most animal conservation scientists are attentive to the growing concerns for animal well-being, and continue to learn that threats to species, populations, and ecosystems, impact animal welfare directly, or indirectly (Patton et al., 2000). Typically, however, they advocate focusing moral concern and societal action on such ends as the protection of endangered species and the preservation of wilderness, rather than reducing pain and suffering (or promoting the rights or dignity) of animals (Meffe, 2008). Research done by these scientists would seem to produce a positive value that deserves to be weighed against any disvalue produced by hurting or stressing an animal during the research process. All aspects considered, this research is still met with questions of moral credibility, even if the animals show signs of improved health, because it eliminates the animal’s freedom or treats them as a “mere means” to some anthropocentric end (Jones and McGreevy,

Diabetes mellitus, or better known as Diabetes, is an endocrine system disorder. In this case, your body is unable to produce enough or any insulin at all. Insulin, produced by the pancreas, has a very important role. When sugar is ingested from food, it is turned into energy for the cells in our body. Without insulin, the transfer of sugar into the cells would be compromised. Insulin is also vital to keep the right balance of sugar in the bloodstream (Hess-Fischl, 2015). If too much insulin is produced, blood sugar levels are decreased resulting in hypoglycemia. Hyperglycemia occurs when the blood sugar levels are increased (Sargis, n.d.).

“The most common types of non-healing wounds are pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, ischemic ulcers and venous ulcers.” (2)