Discuss a biological approach to understanding one health problem

Question 1

Stress

Answer 1

The process that arises when the perceived demands on an individual exceed a person’s capacity and capability to cope with those demands

Question 2

What can stress be considered as?

Answer 2

Stress can be considered as both the state of this imbalance and the effects it has on someone as their body and mind respond to this state.

Question 3

Stress in an evolutionary perspective

Answer 3

From an evolutionary perspective, stress arises as the result of an acute threat and its paired response, such as fighting or running for one’s life.

When a stressor and its response last for more than an isolated experience or a couple of weeks, they can become chronic stress, and this type of stress can contribute to the development and progression of non-communicable diseases.

Question 4

Relying just on the biological approach alone is what?

Answer 4

Relying on the biological approach alone is seen as reductionist, ignoring both cognitive and sociocultural factors that may play a role.

Question 5

A key model to explain stress and how it leads to health problems

Answer 5

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) proposed by Hans Selye

Question 6

What did Selye view stress as?

Answer 6

As the body’s attempt to adapt to a stressor.

Question 7

Usefulness of stress but the issue with it as well

Answer 7

This adaptation protects the body in the short term. But if the stressor is prolonged serious damage can occur.

Question 8

What are the 3 stages of GAS?

Answer 8

Alarm reaction

Resistance

Exhaustion stage

Question 9

Alarm reaction

Answer 9

when a stressor is perceived, the immediate physiological response is shock.

At this time the body’s resources are briefly decreased before quickly recovering.

Physiological systems are activated in preparation for the fight or flight.

Question 10

Resistance

Answer 10

Where the body attempts to adapt to the stressful environmental demands by resisting the stressor. Physiological activity is greater than normal and uses a lot of energy.

The individual appears to be coping but the body’s resources are being consumed at a potentially harmful rate.

Question 11

Exhaustion stage

Answer 11

Where the adaptation to a chronic stressor is now failing. The body’s resources are drained and therefore the resistance plummets. The immune system therefore becomes compromised and stress related illnesses are likely to come such as depression.

Question 12

A study that supports the GAS

Answer 12

Cohen

Question 13

Aim of Cohen

Answer 13

Carried out a study to see if stress leads to colds

Question 14

Procedure of Cohen

Answer 14

He gave participants tests to determine their overall general health and their recent exposure to stress.

He then exposed participants to either a cold virus or to a simple saline solution, which served as the placebo.

Participants were then quarantined for five days. They were checked daily for any sign of illness.

Question 15

Results of Cohen

Answer 15

The researchers found that the duration and nature of stress that an individual experiences is a strong predictor of who gets a cold.

Those who had high levels of stress for a month or more were over twice as likely to get ill as those who had no such stress.

The type of stress also seems to matter.

Participants who were unemployed were three times more likely to develop colds than those who didn’t have work-related problems.

And those who reported serious problems in their close relationships were 2.5 times more likely to contract viruses than those without such problems.

Question 16

How does Cohen support GAS

Answer 16

As it supports that it was participants who were in the exhaustion stage that suffered the most from the cold and therefore links stress to health problems affecting it negatively.

Question 17

How does Cohen also support the sociocultural approach?

Answer 17

It also supports that there is a sociocultural aspect that also plays a key role as it raises the chances of getting a cold.

This therefore supports that it is a combination of sociocultural and biological aspect that affects the effect of stress on the body.

Question 18

Issue with Cohen

Answer 18

A key issue with the study however, is that there are serious ethical issues as the researchers purposefully exposed the participants to a cold which could cause harm and therefore may not be accepted as an acceptable study.

Question 19

Issue with Cohen that Kiecolt-Glaser et al solves

Answer 19

Another issue is that even though it relates stress to potential disease, it doesn’t look at how stress actually leads to a decrease in our body’s ability to fight off disease.

To get more information on that, we need to turn to a classic study in psychology carried out by Kiecolt-Glaser et al.

Question 20

Aim of Kiecolt-Glaser et al

Answer 20

To see if the stress of important exams could lead to a decrease in immune function.

Question 21

Procedure of Kiecolt-Glaser et al.

Answer 21

The researchers tested participants for their level of stress before the experiment began.

They were also given a test to determine the life changes that occurred within the last year that would raise their level of stress.

Participants were then divided into groups depending on their stress and their level of loneliness.

NK cell activity was measured in the students’ blood sample.

NK cells are lymphocytes which provide rapid responses to viral-infected cells and determines the function of the immune system.

Question 22

Results of Kiecolt-Glaser et al

Answer 22

There was a significant decrease in NK cell activity between the first blood test and the second blood test. Participants in the high stress group were more likely to have lower levels of NK than those in the low stress group.

This means that stress experienced previous to the exams played a role in their immune systems’ ability to cope with the stress of examinations.

In addition, participants in the “high loneliness” group had lower levels of NK than those in the “low loneliness” group.

Question 23

Conclusion of Kiecolt-Glaser et al

Answer 23

This confirms the role of social support as a protective factor for better health.

Kiecolt-Glaser concluded that stress has a direct effect on the immune system by suppressing NK cell activity.

It therefore determines that the cause of a reduction in health is due to NK cell activity.

The research seems to support the General Adaptation Model proposed by Selye.

As our body continues to cope with stressors, it eventually becomes “exhausted.”

In this exhausted stage, this is when we are most likely to become ill.

Question 24

Issue with the Kiecolt-Glaser study

Answer 24

However, one of the problems of the experiment is the age of the participants.

Students are often used in psychological research because they are easy to find and usually willing to participant in research studies.

However, younger people usually have stronger immune systems than older people.

Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings to older people.

In addition, the stress of exams is an acute stressor.

It is not like poverty or constant noise pollution.

More research needs to be done on the extent to which the nature of the stressor itself may - or may not - have an effect on the immune system.

Question 25

Another factor that determines the effect of the GAS on individuals

Answer 25

HPA axis

Question 26

HPA axis

Answer 26

The process of the secretion of hormones in the brain when we appraise an event as stressful

Question 27

One of the main hormones released by the HPA axis

Answer 27

Cortisol

Question 28

Cortisol useful

Answer 28

Useful for when an individual is in a flight or flight response as it increases the glucose level for more energy and reduces the functioning of processes in the body that are not essential.

Question 29

Cortisol not useful

Answer 29

However, when there is too much it can lead to negative effects on the body and therefore supports the GAS.

Question 30

A study that supports the effect of the long effects of cortisol which link to the exhaustion stage of GAS

Answer 30

Sapolsky

Question 31

What did Sapolsky investigate?

Answer 31

Wanted to investigate the social hierarchies in baboons

Question 32

Procedure of Sapolsky

Answer 32

Sapolsky would take blood samples of baboons over a period of time to find which baboons would have the most.

Question 33

Findings of Sapolsky

Answer 33

He found that baboons in low hierarchies had the most.

During a prolonged period of time, he found that high cortisol lead to hypertension and elevated heart rates and well as high levels of cholesterol, leading to atherosclerosis.

He also found that high levels of stress inhibit reproduction in both genders.

Question 34

How does Sapolsky support GAS?

Answer 34

This therefore supports the GAS and its evidence for the negative effects of cortisol and the exhaustion stage on animals.

Question 35

Issue with Sapolsky

Answer 35

However, the issue is that this study is on baboons and not humans and therefore it is difficult to generalise the findings to humans.

Question 36

Conclusion of Biological approach

Answer 36

Therefore, the studies strongly support the GAS approach to stress and how it leads to high health problems. However, seeing the biological approach as the only factor would be reductionist and incorrect as Cohen and Sapolsky support that the sociocultural approach also has a strong effect.