Stress The International Journal on the Biology of Stress (original) (raw)

Stress: Part I The physiology of stress

Retrieved September, 2010

In the upcoming series of articles, we tackle the enormous topic of stress. It is generally agreed by the scientific community that stress is not what happens to someone. Stress is how a person reacts to stressors. Stress affects everyone differently. Stressors can be positive -- exciting ...

Pathophysiology of Stress: A Review

https://www.ijrrjournal.com/IJRR\_Vol.6\_Issue.5\_May2019/Abstract\_IJRR0026.html, 2019

Our over-industrialized and highly competitive metropolitan culture has added up to our stresses at many levels. The media, also in a way, provides certain "constructs" which in their turns create stress and anxiety about our bodies, levels of successes, status, gender roles and other perspectives. Sometimes violence (gendered or otherwise) along with repression, neurosis, loneliness and other psychological factors lessen the wellbeing of an individual, both physically and psychologically. Stress is body's way of responding to the demand which is caused by both good and bad events/experiences. The body reacts by releasing chemicals in the blood to combat this demand by a complex repertoire of behavioral and physiologic adaptive responses. Stress experiences often lead to various chronic health conditions such as hypertension, coronary heart disease. To make this world a better place to live in we need to make individuals conscious of the fact that the positive health of a person depends on both the body and the mind.

Understanding stress: characteristics and caveats

PubMed, 1999

Exposure to stressful situations is among the most common human experiences. These types of situations can range from unexpected calamities to routine daily annoyances. In response to stressors, a series of behavioral, neurochemical, and immunological changes occur that ought to serve in an adaptive capacity. However, if those systems become overly taxed, the organism may become vulnerable to pathology. Likewise, the biological changes, if sufficiently sustained, may themselves adversely affect the organism's well-being. Several factors may dictate an individual's response to environmental stressors, including characteristics of the stressor (i.e., type of stressor and its controllability, predictability, and chronicity); biological factors (i.e., age, gender, and genetics); and the subject's previous stressor history and early life experiences. Research on the physiological and psychological responses to different types of stressful stimuli is presented, focusing particularly on processes that may be relevant to the development of alcohol use disorders. Stressful events may profoundly influence the use of alcohol or other drugs (AODs). For example, the resumption of AOD use after a lengthy period of abstinence may reflect a person's attempt to self-medicate to attenuate the adverse psychological consequences of stressors (e.g., anxiety). Alternatively, stress may increase the reinforcing effects of AODs.

Basic Concepts and Hormonal Regulators of the Stress System

Hormone Research in Paediatrics

Background: Human organisms have to cope with a large number of external or internal stressful stimuli that threaten -or are perceived as threatening- their internal dynamic balance or homeostasis. To face these disturbing forces, or stressors, organisms have developed a complex neuroendocrine system, the stress system, which consists of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the locus caeruleus (LC)/norepinephrine (NE)-autonomic nervous system (ANS). Summary: Upon exposure to stressors beyond a certain threshold, the activation of the stress system leads to a series of physiological and behavioral adaptations that help achieve homeostasis and increase the chances of survival. When, however, the stress response to stressors is inadequate, excessive or prolonged, the resultant maladaptation may lead to the development of several stress-related pathologic conditions. Adverse environmental events, especially during critical periods of life, such as prenatal life, childhood a...

N Eurobiology of Stress: Bridging the Genotype- Phenotype Gap

2008

The biological response to stress is concerned with the maintenance of homeostasis in the presence of real or perceived challenges. This process requires numerous adaptive responses involving changes in the central nervous and neuroendocrine systems. When a situation is perceived as stressful, the brain activates many neuronal circuits linking centers involved in sensory, motor, autonomic, neuroendocrine, cognitive, and emotional functions in order to adapt to the demand. However, the details of the pathways by which the brain translates stressful stimuli into the final, integrated biological response are presently incompletely understood. Nevertheless, it is clear that dysregulation of these physiological responses to stress can have severe psychological and physiological consequences, and there is much evidence to suggest that inappropriate regulation, disproportional intensity, or chronic and/or irreversible activation of the stress response is linked to the etiology and pathophy...

The impact of stress on body function: A review

EXCLI journal, 2017

Any intrinsic or extrinsic stimulus that evokes a biological response is known as stress. The compensatory responses to these stresses are known as stress responses. Based on the type, timing and severity of the applied stimulus, stress can exert various actions on the body ranging from alterations in homeostasis to life-threatening effects and death. In many cases, the pathophysiological complications of disease arise from stress and the subjects exposed to stress, e.g. those that work or live in stressful environments, have a higher likelihood of many disorders. Stress can be either a triggering or aggravating factor for many diseases and pathological conditions. In this study, we have reviewed some of the major effects of stress on the primary physiological systems of humans.