How Can Stress Create Different Diseases?
Posted on March 16th, 2017What is stress?
The internet describes stress as the following.
Stress occurs when there is a state of mental or emotional stress, or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.
When the body goes into a state of stress, the body can become agitated and aggressive and cause the body’s main response to be “fight”, which may lead to a loss of reputation and relationships and many other negative values.
Chronic stress affects many different systems in the body, including the following:
. Suppresses immune function
. Damages the digestive system
. Damage the reproductive system
. Causes an increased risk of strokes
. Causes an increased risk of heart attacks
. Cause premastering aging
. Can lead to mental disorders
What are the signs of stress?
. Anxiety
. Depression
. Different types of pain
. Insomnia
. Autoimmune diseases
. Digestive tract diseases
. Infertility and reproductive problems
. Eczema
. Weight problems
. Heart disease
. Strokes
. Early aging
. Various types of mental disorders
What are the causes of stress?
. Major life style changes
. Work, school or business
. Being over programmed
. Financial problems
. Unhappy marriage
. Divorce
. Loss of a close relative etc
I personally believe that stress leads to adrenal exhaustion, which causes a lack of production of cortisol from the middle layer adrenal cortex referred to as the Zona Fasciculata.
This situation will occur with stress, because it requires a certain amount of cortisol to help the production of epinephrine and other end products.
Epinephrine is produced by stress and can cause a cortisol deficiency referred to as adrenal exhaustion, which affects primarily only the middle layer adrenal cortex.
A certain amount of cortisol is required to fund the negative feedback mechanism to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis.
When this occurs, the hypothalamus and pituitary glands continue producing their hormones CRF and ACTH in hopes of causing a release of more cortisol, but since the middle layer adrenal cortex is exhausted from stress, the inner layer adrenal cortex responds by producing elevated amounts of adrenal estrogens and adrenal androgens.
NOTE: This article will deal only with elevated adrenal estrogen and not deal with adrenal androgen.
The cortisol deficit has caused the development of a direct feedback mechanism, from the inner layer adrenal cortex, referred to as the Zona Reticularis, to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands.
This direct feedback mechanism will continue, until the stress situation has been corrected or until proper supplements are prescribed in order to reproduce the negative feedback mechanism and help control stress mediate diseases.
If the stress continues causing the direct feedback mechanism to function, the elevated amounts of adrenal estrogen will cause the following:
. When exposed to normal tissue in a Petri dish, it will cause
the normal tissue to grow.
. The elevated adrenal estrogen will cause inflammation of all the
epithelial cells that line the arteries in the body.
. It will bind the receptor sites of the thyroid hormones and make
the body metabolically hypothyroid.
. It will cause the immune system to not perform its protective
functions for the body which allow for the development of
chronic bacterial and viral infections
. The elevated adrenal estrogen will cause the B lymphocyte to
reduce its production of immunoglobulins (antibodies) and
when the mucous membrane antibody in the intestines referred
to as IgA is below 58 mg/dL in canines and felines, and below
68 mg/dL in humans, malabsorption will occur with many
medications, supplements and cortisol replacements.
This is the mechanism that I have found that is responsible for many of the diseases that are caused by stress.
There is a simple blood test that follows that can be done in order to help identify, correct and control many of the diseases caused by stress:
. Cortisol
. Total estrogen (Not estradiol, estrone or estriole)
. T3 (Triiodothyronine)
. T4 (Thyroxin)
. IgA (IgG and IgM can also be measured, but may not be
necessary to do, because they will elevated in their amounts as
the IgA increase.)
An interesting thing to note is that each patient suffering from diseases caused by stress and low cortisol can be supplemented individually, based upon how much cortisol and T3, T4 supplements are needed to normalize their total estrogen, thyroid hormones and immunoglobulins.
I realize this may a new approach medically identifying and treating stress related diseases, but it does work and only requires a simple blood test to determine whether stress and low cortisol have caused any of these stress related diseases.
These are just my thoughts, and hopefully they will help make a difference for you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Al Plechner
