Sunday, October 18, 2015

* * * Cortisol, Telomere Length, and Stress




In the 1920s, American physiologist Walter Cannon was the first to picture the “ fight or flight” response wherein stress hormones prepare our bodies for battle, or give emphatic energy and speed for us to duck from danger ( Cannon 1915 ). Hans Selye ( 1907 - 1982 ), however, is considered to be the father of stress research, and was one of the earliest scientists who published rife manuscripts on stress, the hormone cortisol, and their collision on health and disease in the early decades of the 20th century. Selye authored the book Stress without Distress, locale he called stress “ the spice of life” ( Selye 1974 ). Selye recognized stress had positive values when full properly into life, but also recognized that an unrightful reaction to stress in life was a major cause of disease, and that cortisol moderated these effects ( Selye 1954 ).



Cortisol is a hormone that is screened by the adrenal glands which are located atop the kidneys. Cortisol and noradrenaline initiate a stress response, known as “ the fight or flow response”. A massive burst of energy and feelings of game follow the release of cortisol into the bloodstream. This physiologic event is fueled by dramatic increases in respiration and increased levels of glucose in the blood stream, which allows the muscles to work harder, faster and for a longer periods of time. This response has one resolve: to get you out of harm’ s way. Classic examples could be avoiding an approaching vehicle or escaping from predators.



For most of us the word stress has intrinsically negative connotations. The stress response enables an idiosyncratic to deal with the stressor ( stress causing event ), whatever it may be. Stress is an“ experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, reasoning, and behavioral changes that are directed either toward refining the stressful event or accessible to its effects” ( Taylor 2010 ). Stress can be positive or negative depending on reserved acceptation. Cortisol is beneficial only while the dangerous stressing event is present: it makes you alert in the workplace, it aids your concentration and overall sharpens your mental and physical faculties. The problem is that it has been known for decades that elevated and prolonged cortisol levels present health risks which cannot be understated.



Since Selye’ s research root in the mid - thirties, specialist evidence has supported the hypothesis that chronic stress results in long term chemical changes in the body which exhibit themselves in conditions such as, heart and arterial disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, immunosuppression, obesity and increased body mass record ( BMI ), neuron damage, insomnia, depression, increased risk of suicide, osteoporosis, dementia and Alzheimer’ s disease. The final two may be caused by cortisol - associated damage to the hippocampus ( the area of the brain associated with memory processing and unity ). In truth, researchers have found that prolonged elevations of cortisol literally caused brain loss ( beggared hippocampal longitude ) and memory deficits compared to mortals with natural cortisol levels ( Lupien 1998 ). This does not suggest that the stress response is in itself dangerous or life threatening. As stated superior, the stress response is essential to our survival. For humans the very real danger is that stress is indispensable and that each stressing event instigates the same response: cortisol is mystic by the adrenal glands in times of emotional stress. The stressor and subsequent release of cortisol can be unrelenting, and may last for extended periods of time. Accumulated cycles of cortisol release can lead to adrenal fatigue from uncalled-for curtailment of the adrenal hormones during long - term stress, or alternately to cortisol resistance footing cortisol levels are dangerously physiologically high in the bloodstream, but at low levels within the cell. Cortisol resistance may lead to a curious combination of both exhaustion and agitation ( Cohen et al 2012, and Menke et al 2012 ). Some examples of long - term stressors could be a messy divorce, an spread conflict in the workplace, or even the stress of the daily rush hour each morning and afternoon. The guide is endless, and we all have different triggers. It is not always the stressor, but how we as persons cope to that stressor. Each person’ s reaction to the same stressor can be remarkably different. For this inducement alone, “ stress has long been suspected in the etiology [study of causation] of many diseases, and can be immunosuppressive and and so may be detrimental to health” ( Dhaber and Mckewen 1999 ). The basic inference is that after the stressing event has passed, the body needs time to breakdown the stress hormones circulating in our blood stream into safe substances. If the body does not have the metabolic efficiency or the time to do this effectively, cortisol subsequently will become a toxin. The time taken for cortisol to turn from beneficial ( locality we feel energized, and elated ) to bad ( site we feel on edge, anxious, and fatigued ) has been called, “ the cortisol switch” and has been measured at approximately 16 minutes. ( Gottfried 2012 )



The working of cortisol in the blood stream is analogous to the “ oxygen debt” latitude aerobic respiration enables the body to function at its top; overstepping this summit initiates anaerobic ( oxygen - free ) respiration in the muscles. The sequence of this anaerobic respiration is a build - up of lactic acid: we recognize this by excitability an increased heaviness and prostration in the muscles, accompanied by progressively more rapid and massed breathing. There comes a point position you have to stop the motion and pament back the “ oxygen debt” by inhaling large amounts of oxygen, and allowing the lactic acid to be delighted by the circulatory system to the liver station it is oxidized to portrait dioxide and water. Similarly, we must be removed from a stressing event, or learn adequate coping mechanisms to behave to the stressing event in a more healthy fashion in neatness to allow cortisol levels to return to regular. If this is not accomplished, cortisol levels keep on elevated and can quickly become speculative.



Cortisol is solitary among hormones now it is the only hormone whose concentration in the body increases as we age. Part of the cause for this is that younger people metabolize ( breakdown ) the hormone more rapidly than older people. So if our lives are overmuch stressful for an extended duration of time the determination is elevated levels of cortisol which effectively have nowhere to go. In essence, the body fails to confirm that cortisol levels rapidly return to normal and ride within homeostatic limits.



In Chronically pinched persons the body smartly does not have the time to recover and re - energize after a expereincing a stressful event, being the body is in a near constant state of response or “ stress - response mode”. Speaking personally [Mark] my last teaching job resulted in an emphatically painful lash in the crater of my belly on a Friday, that did not fully subside until Sunday, just in time for the whole cycle to start again. This is just one of the many symptoms that fall under the passel of adrenal prostration ( i. e. resulting from stress and not a pathological nature such as Addison’ s disease ). The tail issue is a complete breakdown of the normal stress response and the transformation of a beneficial substance ( short term ) into a toxin ( long term ). Some of the long term implications for cortisol’ s spin-off on cellular metabolism are discussed below.



On the tips of our chromosomes, which contain our DNA, located in the pith of every cell in our body ( aside from red blood cells ), lies a structure called a telomere. Telomeres have jelly and stabilizing functions. A telomere is like the talented cap at the spire of a netting, which keeps the netting from growing. With each cell division the length of the telomere is hard up, so as we age the telomeres on all of our chromosomes progressively decrease. Eventually, when telomere length is indeed beggarly, a make called cell elderliness occurs; the cell is metabolically active but is incapable of division. Research over the last decade provides a picture of how “ at the cellular level, stress may promote earlier attack of age - related disease”, ( Epal et al. 2004 ). This research suggests that the stress response has a detrimental flak on cell metabolism, and in particular cell gash ( mitosis ). Equally concerning is the stress response ( i. e. cortisol ) conclusion on telomere length and then on cell longevity. Cortisol has a loathsome development on the enzyme telomerase which “ relengthens the telomeres so that they get the same length as before embarking on cell division” ( Bojesen et al 2013 ). Travel shows that chronic stress can subtract 10 senescence to your lifespan. The cell’ s environment double time regulates both the exercise of telomerase and telomere length with unfathomable consequences such that chronic stress is associated with “ telomeres shorter on familiar by the likeness of at primogenial one decade of additional aging” ( Epal et al 2004 ), as compared with less tense citizens. There is now a forceful body of reconnoitre documenting the detrimental precipitate of ether stress ( or the associated extinction of cortisol during stress ) on telomere shortening ( Daubenmier et al. 2012; Tomiyama et al 2012; Parks et al 2009 ). When the telomere length is zero, cell apoptosis ( self - suicide ) occurs. And so, telomere length is one of the necessary factors of cell longevity and senescence. Destitute telomere length has been associated with high exit rates in elderly people. The interpretation is that big and persistent cortisol levels accelerate this process such that the mapping of telomeres has far implications for the cellular basis of chronic stress and age related diseases, in supplement to boosting understanding eyeful cancers, the applicable treatment of those cancers, and the genetic links between telomere length and the near development of cancer. ( Bojesen et al 2013 ).



Any high teach biology blow or fitness timetable tells us that a balanced diet is essential for overall health and well - being. If it is comic to avoid the stressing events, is it possible to relieve the results of high rise cortisol levels, or is it possible to block stress response pathways?









In import we are requisition if it is possible to inhibit the whack of cortisol. Probe and clinical disaster considering the mid - nineties have shown that a materiality derived from the whites of fertilized chicken eggs called Young Tissue Extract, or YTE, may play a crucial role in reducing cortisol levels in young as well as in elderly subjects, and since this sense may play a role in stress management. It is important to elucidate that YTE does not inhibit common stress response but, “ restores the ability of chronically strained subjects to transform to uttermost stress” ( Schult et al 2009 ).



YTE is marketed internationally under the name Laminine, and whereas it is not a prescription drug, but is a nutritional supplement, the manufacturer cannot make any claims for the prevention, mitigation, treatment, or cure of any disease. The freeze - dried supplement does contain a sort of essential amino acids, peptides and growth factors which have been shown to lift levels of a gist called 17 - ketosteroid. This steroid ( a critically important delicacy of biological speck ) has many functions, but one backwash of ingestion is, that it reduces the percentage of the body’ s production of cortisol. Laminine has been shown to inhibit the stress response by elevating the body’ s production of serotonin, which promotes feelings of behalf and relaxation ( Solberg 2011 ). Effectively, our stress hormone levels drop in that we lose our feelings of anxiety, uneasiness, insecurity and related negative emotions. We all know the short term consequences of stress consist of insomnia, needy appetite, excitability overwhelmed or spindly and increased alcohol intake to cope with these feelings. The long - term consequences can be severly debilitating, or even life threatening. It is important to note that chronic stress should be avoided at all costs, however, sometimes this is just not possible and it may be utopian to say, “ just remove the stressing event”. For persons enduring an extended stressful term Laminine may be an answer as people who are chronically pinched “ profit both psychologically and physiologically from YTE”. ( Schult et al 2009 ), along with proper diet, exercise, stress reduction and relaxation techniques, and the saneness of alcohol ( Mendelson et al 1966; Thayer et al 2006; Stalder et al 2010 ) and coffee intake ( Bennett et al 2013 ), the end two of which are also associated with elevated cortisol levels.



REFERENCES







* Stig E Bojesen et al. Multiple independent variants at the TERT locus are associated with telomere length and risks of breast and ovarian cancer. Nature Genetics, 2013; 45 ( 4 ): 371 DOI: 10. 1038 / ng. 2566



http: / / www. nature. com / ng / daybook / v45 / n4 / full / ng. 2566. html



http: / / www. sciencedaily. com / releases / 2013 / 03 / 130327133341. htm



* Epel et al. Accelerated telomere abbreviation in response to life stress. PNAS vol. 101 no. 49 December 7, 2004 http: / / www. pnas. org / content / 101 / 49 / 17312. full. pdf + html? sid=8afef197 - 2e32 - 46e9 - b658 - 2a67bf0dba9c





* Lupien SJ et al. Cortisol levels during human aging predict hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits. Nature neuroscience. whistle stop 1 no 1: May 1998 http: / / www. nature. com / neuro / periodical / v1 / n1 / pdf / nn0598_69. pdf



* Taylor S. E. Mechanisms linking early life stress to adult health outcomes. Litigation of the Civic Academy of Sciences. Vol. 107, No. 19. May 2010. http: / / www. pnas. org / content / 107 / 19 / 8507. full



http: / / www. pnas. org / content / 107 / 19 / 8507. full. pdf + html





* Dhaber FS and Mckewen Ranting. Enhancing versus suppressive effects of stress hormones on skin immune function. Case of the Civic Academy of Sciences. Vol. 96, No. 3: 1059 - 1064. February 2, 1999. http: / / www. pnas. org / content / 96 / 3 / 1059. full? sid=1f420118 - 3137 - 4205 - 9429 - 5ca87841ecf7



http: / / www. pnas. org / content / 96 / 3 / 1059. full. pdf + html





* Schult J et al. Effects of powdered fertilized egg on the stress response. Clin Nutr. 2010 Apr; 29 ( 2 ): 255 - 60. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pubmed / 19837490





* Solberg, E. The Effects of Powdered Fertilized Eggs on Depression. J Med Food. 2011 July; 14 ( 7 - 8 ): 870– 875. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pmc / articles / PMC3133680 /



* Cohen S, Janicki - Deverts D, Doyle WJ, Miller GE, Frank E, Rabin Poppycock, Turner RB. Chronic stress, glucocorticoid receptor resistance, inflammation, and disease risk. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Apr 17; 109 ( 16 ): 5995 - 9. Epub 2012 Apr 2. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pubmed / 22474371



* Menke A, Arloth J, Pü tz B, Weber P, Klengel T, Mehta D, Gonik M, Khan - Haffner M, Rubel J, Uhr M, Lucae S, Deussing JM, Mü ller - Myhsok B, Holsboer F, Binder EB. Dexamethasone Stimulated Gene Expression in Foreign Blood is a Sensitive Tab for Glucocorticoid Receptor Resistance in Depressed Patients. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2012 Jul; 37 ( 8 ): 1972. doi: 10. 1038 / npp. 2012. 21. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pubmed / 22699688



* Daubenmier J, Lin J, Blackburn E, Hecht FM, Kristeller J, Maninger N, Kuwata M, Bacchetti P, Havel PJ, Epel E. Changes in stress, eating, and metabolic factors are related to changes in telomerase animation in a randomized recollection dirty deed commander study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012 Jul; 37 ( 7 ): 917 - 28. Epub 2011 Dec 14. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pubmed / 22169588



* Tomiyama AJ, O ' Donovan A, Lin J, Puterman E, Lazaro A, Chan J, Dhabhar FS, Wolkowitz O, Kirschbaum C, Blackburn E, Epel E. Does cellular aging relate to patterns of allostasis? An examination of basal and stress reactive HPA focus hustle and telomere length. Physiol Behav. 2012 Apr 12; 106 ( 1 ): 40 - 5. Epub 2011 Nov 28. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pubmed / 22138440



* Parks CG, Miller DB, McCanlies EC, Cawthon RM, Andrew ME, DeRoo LA, Sandler DP. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. Telomere length, current perceived stress, and urinary stress hormones in women. 2009 Feb; 18 ( 2 ): 551 - 60. Epub 2009 Feb 3. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pubmed / 19190150



* Selye H. Interactions between systemic and local stress. British Medical Periodical. 1954 May 22; 1 ( 4872 ): 1167 - 1170. http: / / www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov / pmc / articles / PMC2085130 /? page=1



* Selye H. Stress without distress. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1974.



* Mendelson, Riches; Stein, Stefan. Fluid Cortisol Levels in Alcoholic and Nonalcoholic Subjects During Experimentally Induced Ethanol Intoxication. Psychosomatic Medicine 28 ( 4 ): 616– 26. 1966.



* Thayer, Julian F.; Lobby, Martica; Sollers, John J.; Fischer, Joachim E. Alcohol use, urinary cortisol, and heart ratio variability in apparently healthy men: Evidence for impaired inhibitory might of the HPA spindle in heavy drinkers. International Chronicle of Psychophysiology 59 ( 3 ): 244– 50. 2006. doi: 10. 1016 / j. ijpsycho. 2005. 10. 013. PMID 16325293.



* Stalder, Tobias; Kirschbaum, Clemens; Heinze, Kareen; Steudte, Susann; Foley, Paul; Tietze, Antje; Dettenborn, Lucia. Use of hair cortisol analysis to detect hypercortisolism during active drinking phases in alcohol - dependent persons. Biological Psychology 85 ( 3 ): 357– 60. 2010. doi: 10. 1016 / j. biopsycho. 2010. 08. 005. PMID 20727937.



* Fisone G, Borgkvist A, Usiello A. Caffeine as a psychomotor pressure: mechanism of going. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 61 ( 7– 8 ): 857– 72. 2004. doi: 10. 1007 / s00018 - 003 - 3269 - 3. PMID: 15095008



* Bennett JM, Rodrigues IM, Klein LC. Effects of Caffeine and Stress on Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease in Healthy Men and Women with a Family History of Hypertension. Stress Health. 2013 Blemish 18. doi: 10. 1002 / smi. 2486. PMID: 23504818



* Gottfried S. Cortisol Switcharoo: How Cortisol Makes You Fat and Fit to be tied, Plus 7 Practices to Rock Your Stress. http: / / www. saragottfriedmd. com / 2012 / 05 / 04 / cortisol - switcharoo / # May 4, 2012 ( Accessed May 27, 2013 )



* Eliot, RS. Is it worth dying for? How to make stress work for you - not against you. Bantam Books. NY, NY. 1984.



* Walter Bradford Cannon. Sincere Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage: An Tally of Recent Researches into the Function of Emotional Excitement. Appleton - Century - Crofts. 1915.

No comments:

Post a Comment