Stress

Question 1

Stress

Answer 1

-A person experiences stress when a demand exceeds a person’s coping abilities, resulting in reactions such as disturbances of cognition, emotion, and behavior that can adversely affect well-being

Question 2

Stressors

Answer 2

Stressors

• -Environmental
  e. g. Temperature
• -Mental
  e. g. nervousness
• -Pathological
  e. g. a disease

Question 3

General Adaptation Syndrome:

Answer 3

-Dr. Selye termed this general response, the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)
 -Three stages
 1) Alarm stage
 Arousal of body 
     defenses
 2) Stage of resistance or 
     adaptation
     Mobilization 
    contributes to fight or 
    flight
 3) Stage of exhaustion
 Progressive breakdown  
    of compensatory 
    mechanisms

Question 4

GAS Activation:

Answer 4

Alarm stage
 -Stressor triggers the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
 -Activates sympathetic nervous system

Resistance stage
- Begins with the actions 
    of adrenal hormones

 Exhaustion stage
- Occurs only if stress continues and adaptation is not successful

Question 5

See Image:

Answer 5

Note McCance Figure 11-1. It demonstrates the connections between the brain sensory input regions and how the neurons communicate with the Sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamus.

Question 6

See Note:

Answer 6

These are normal and expected.
These are useful for survival.
It is only when the stress is severe or prolonged, that pathological states can lead to diseases.

Question 7

-Let us explore in more detail, the chemistry that connects the sensory input to the stress responses.

Answer 7

-Psychological Mediators
 -Reactive response
 Physiologic response
to stressor

 -Anticipatory response
        Physiological 
        response what is 
        anticipated, but has 
        not yet occurred.
 
    -Conditional response
 Learned response to 
     repeated stress stimuli.

Question 8

Psychoneuroimmunologic Mediators:

Answer 8

• Interactions of consciousness, the brain and spinal cord, and the body’s defense mechanisms
• Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is released from the hypothalamus
• CRH is also released peripherally at inflammatory sites
• Immune modulation by psychosocial stressors leads directly to health outcomes

Question 9

Central Stress Response:

Answer 9

-Catecholamines
 --Released from 
     chromaffin cells of the 
     adrenal medulla
 -----Large amounts of epinephrine; small amounts of norepinephrine

-α-adrenergic receptors
 α1 and α2
-β-adrenergic receptors
 β1 and β2
- Mimic direct sympathetic stimulation

Question 10

Cortisol (Hydrocortisone):

Answer 10

• Activated by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
• Stimulates gluconeogenesis
• Elevates the blood glucose level
• Protein anabolic effect in the liver; catabolic effect in other tissues
• Lipolytic in some areas of the body, lipogenic in others
• Powerful anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive agent

Question 11

Take time and review in detail figure 11-2?

Answer 11

• Did you notice the pathways linked to Catecholamines?

- Did you distinguish the pathways linked to cortisol?

Question 12

In the stress response, both pathways occur simultaneously

Answer 12

See figure 11-4

Question 13

Stress on the Immune System:

Answer 13

• list the effects of catecholamine and cortisol on the immune system
• see the figures in text

Question 14

See page 347 in text.

Answer 14

• look how complicated the pathways can get!

- Notice the example of how stress can integrate with other pathological pathways and play a role in obesity.

Question 15

Stress induced Hormone Alterations: Female Reproductive system

Answer 15

• Female reproductive system
   -Cortisol exerts inhibiting effects by suppressing the release of luteinizing hormone, estradiol, and progesterone
   -Stress suppresses hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone
  - Estrogen stimulates the HPA axis

Question 16

Stress induced Hormone Alterations: Endorphins and Enkephalins

Answer 16

-Endorphins and enkephalins
 -Proteins found in the brain that have pain-relieving capabilities
 -In a number of conditions, individuals not only experience insensitivity to pain but also increased feelings of excitement, positive well-being, and euphoria

Question 17

Stress - Induced Hormone Alterations: Growth Hormone (Somatotropin):

Answer 17

• Produced by the anterior pituitary and by lymphocytes and mononuclear phagocytic cells
• Affects protein, lipid, and carbohydrate metabolism and counters the effects of insulin
• Enhances immune function

Question 18

Stress-Induced Hormone Alterations: Prolactin

Answer 18

• Released from the anterior pituitary
• Necessary for lactation and breast development
• Prolactin levels in the plasma increase as a result of stressful stimuli

Question 19

Stress Induced Hormone Alterations: Oxytocin

Answer 19

• Produced by the hypothalamus
• Produced during orgasm in both sexes
• May promote reduced anxiety

Question 20

Stress Induced Hormone Alterations: Testosterone:

Answer 20

• Secreted by Leydig cells
• Regulates male secondary sex characteristics and libido
• Testosterone levels decrease due to stressful stimuli

Question 21

Stress, Personality, Coping, and Illness:

Answer 21

-A stressor for one person may not be a stressor for another
-Psychologic distress
 —General state of unpleasant arousal after life events that manifests as physiologic, emotional, cognitive, and behavior changes
-Coping
 —Managing stressful demands and challenges that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person

Question 22

Aging and Stress:

Answer 22

-Stress-age syndrome
- Excitability changes in the limbic system and hypothalamus
 -Increased 
     catecholamines, ADH, 
      ACTH, and cortisol
 -Decreased 
     testosterone, thyroxine, 
     and other hormones
 -Alterations of opioid 
      peptides
 -Immunodepression
 -Alterations in 
      lipoproteins
 -Hypercoagulation of 
      the blood
 -Free radical damage of 
     cells