Assignment #3 - Stress
1. What hormones are responsible for the stress response? What does your body do to prepare you for a stressful encounter? What are some of the health/physical concerns related to the constant exposure to stress?
In order to prepare for a stressful encounter, the body will make many changes in a matter of milliseconds. It begins by sending signals to the kidney’s adrenal glands to secrete a type of adrenaline called epinephrine. This hormone has so many effects on the body and its systems. It targets the stomach and small intestines and shuts them down, stopping digestion. Epinephrine is also responsible for the tension of the muscles and the increase of blood pressure.The body also produces a steroid hormone called glucocorticoid, which promotes the replenishment of energy and efficient cardiovascular function.
Dealing with stress long-term can really affect one’s health. The first stress-related disease to be discovered was the ulcer. Australian researchers later found out that ulcers were actually caused by bacteria that could be found within the stomach. But further research showed that this bacteria can be found in the stomach of any human being, but the effects of stress can cause the immune system to weaken, allowing the bacteria to grow and reproduce without being fought against.
Long-term stress can also affect a person’s overall happiness and ability to be happy. Dopamine is a hormone that is secreted in relation to pleasure. As long as a person is encountering stress, dopamine is not being used, which can in result cause the person to no longer be able to appreciate things in their life that would normally give them pleasure
Also, stress hormones accelerate the shortening of telomeres, which are the protective wrappings at the end of chromosomes.The enzyme that repairs these telomeres is called telomerase, which can be produced when encountering humorous and