How Stress Works
We know that stress is a killer, and the body’s response to it changes according to the HPA axis: the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands. This axis is the relationship between stress, the brain, and what results happen to your body. Most of us know about the relationship between stress and adrenals. The adrenals kick up cortisol and adrenaline, the fight or flight response. Excess cortisol shows up as fat around your middle. We don’t like cortisol, but as is true with cholesterol as well, a certain amount is needed by the body to function. It’s the extra that is the problem. And our crankiness and further stress about it.
The pituitary gland cascades into the adrenals and also the thyroid, causing them to release even more hormones. As a side note, the thyroid regulates body temp, metabolism, and maturation of the body. If you suffer from cold weather, it could be that your thyroid and/or your pituitary isn’t working as well as it should. Or it could also mean that you need to put on an extra pair of socks and a jacket and stop prancing around in your bikini. The point is, everything is related to everything else, even the stuff that we don’t think is related to anything. No organ is an island. Wait. Isn’t that a song?
The hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary (both in the brain) which stimulates the adrenals, located on top of the kidneys. Stress happens, the hypothalamus reacts, releasing stress hormones. That stimulates the pituitary gland to release hormones, and that stimulates the adrenals to release even more stress hormones. This might be useful if a panther were chasing you, or a person broke into your house and meant you harm, but normally, we don’t need that concentration of stress hormones just because we hate our job, feel unlucky in love, or suffer from nagging, annoying, ongoing pain.
What the stress hormones do to your body is prepare you for fight or flight: the heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, breathing becomes quicker and more shallow, and the muscles tighten. Ever meet someone and they just seem “wound up” all the time? That’s their stress response, which never gets a break. That is so unhealthy. Stress can affect everything: emotions, behaviors, cognitive ability, and physical health; thus shortening your life.
Common symptoms of stress include feeling overwhelmed, having trouble relaxing and quieting your mind, insomnia, frequent illness, headaches, continuing pain, inability to focus, poor judgement, fidgeting behavior, change in appetite, or increased use of alcohol or drugs.
Stress is a killer. Literally.
But good news. A huge stress buster is exercise. Run it off. Jump rope. Punch a bag. Ride a bike. Or in my case, join a circus class. It’s amazing how inept and exhilarated you can feel as the same time. Move more. That bikini is waiting.
That’s Aging Intelligently.