Unifying mechanisms: nature deficiency, chronic stress, and inflammation

2018 ◽  
pp. 40-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Bird ◽  
Elissa Epel ◽  
Jeannette R. Ickovics ◽  
Matilda van den Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Inflammation ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Accelerated Ageing ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
As Stress ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Prolonged Stress ◽  
Oxidative Species

Disconnection from nature seems to increase the risk of chronic stress. This is followed by a range of deleterious influences on our bodily systems. Many of these changes are related to chronic inflammation. This chapter evolves around the premise that natural environments are prerequisites for resilience to the various stressors of our daily lives. If our resilience and coping mechanisms are insufficient, we are at risk of entering a vicious circle of negative organ reactions and feedback loops. As stress is prolonged, stress hormones and poor health behaviour are followed by alterations in the gut microbiota and an increase in visceral fat. These reactions lead to damage of the cells’ mitochondria from oxidative stress and release of reactive oxidative species. Finally, the results of oxidative damage and chronic inflammation lead to the shortening of telomeres, the DNA-proteins which protect the chromosomes. Shorter telomeres are associated with accelerated ageing and disease.

scholarly journals Chronic Stress and Glucocorticoids: From Neuronal Plasticity to Neurodegeneration

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheela Vyas ◽  
Ana João Rodrigues ◽  
Joana Margarida Silva ◽  
Francois Tronche ◽  
Osborne F. X. Almeida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Behavioral Adaptation ◽  
Mineralocorticoid Receptors ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Synaptic Structure ◽  
Glial Function ◽  
Prolonged Stress

Stress and stress hormones, glucocorticoids (GCs), exert widespread actions in central nervous system, ranging from the regulation of gene transcription, cellular signaling, modulation of synaptic structure, and transmission and glial function to behavior. Their actions are mediated by glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors which are nuclear receptors/transcription factors. While GCs primarily act to maintain homeostasis by inducing physiological and behavioral adaptation, prolonged exposure to stress and elevated GC levels may result in neuro- and psychopathology. There is now ample evidence for cause-effect relationships between prolonged stress, elevated GC levels, and cognitive and mood disorders while the evidence for a link between chronic stress/GC and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD) diseases is growing. This brief review considers some of the cellular mechanisms through which stress and GC may contribute to the pathogenesis of AD and PD.

scholarly journals Non-breeding feather concentrations of testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol are associated with subsequent survival in wild house sparrows

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1733) ◽  
pp. 1560-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Koren ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
Kiran K. Soma ◽  
Katherine E. Wynne-Edwards ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Darwinian Fitness ◽  
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Subject ◽  
As Stress

Potential mechanistic mediators of Darwinian fitness, such as stress hormones or sex hormones, have been the focus of many studies. An inverse relationship between fitness and stress or sex hormone concentrations has been widely assumed, although empirical evidence is scarce. Feathers gradually accumulate hormones during their growth and provide a novel way to measure hormone concentrations integrated over time. Using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, we measured testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol in the feathers of house sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) in a wild population which is the subject of a long-term study. Although corticosterone is considered the dominant avian glucocorticoid, we unambiguously identified cortisol in feathers. In addition, we found that feathers grown during the post-nuptial moult in autumn contained testosterone, corticosterone and cortisol levels that were significantly higher in birds that subsequently died over the following winter than in birds that survived. Thus, feather steroids are candidate prospective biomarkers to predict the future survival of individuals in the wild.

scholarly journals What stresses adolescents? A qualitative study on perceptions of stress, stressors and coping mechanisms among urban adolescents in India

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
TK Nagabharana ◽  
Shama Joseph ◽  
Azeez Rizwana ◽  
Murali Krishna ◽  
Mary Barker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Older Adolescents ◽  
And Coping

Background: In India, stress levels are increasing steadily among youth. We aimed to explore the factors that contribute to psychological stress and coping strategies among adolescents in Mysore, India to inform the development of an intervention. Methods: We recruited 16 volunteers in Mysore, India including 6 younger (12-15 years; 3 girls) and 10 older adolescents/ young adults (17-25 years; 5 girls) using a purposive sampling technique. Older adolescents were recruited from ongoing birth cohort study, and the younger adolescents by word-of-mouth from the community. Individual in-depth interviews were carried out based on a semi-structured interview guide comprising open-ended questions. The interviews were analysed to derive themes and emerging constructs related to stress and coping strategies.  Results: Adolescents generally perceived stress in their daily lives. Family conflicts and academic pressures were the main triggers for increased stress. Issues around peer relationships, and social position were also important contributors. Adolescents reported that they had robust coping strategies. These included stress release through rationalising and acceptance of the situation, distraction activities, spirituality, and self-comforting methods. However, they felt the need for further support from their family, and the society in general. In particular they expressed the need for a space to share their concerns and obtain guidance through healthy discussions with adults.      Conclusions: Our study indicates that adolescents in India are exposed to a wide range of stressors in their daily lives. The conflict between ‘traditional’ society’s opinions of what adolescents should do and the new age adolescents’ aspirations for autonomy to find ‘informed’ solutions for their issues may hinder the stress management efforts. Moving forward, we propose to develop a culturally acceptable intervention tool that accommodates adolescents’ perspectives and psychosocial context.

Social Support in Daily Life at Reentry

2020 ◽  
pp. 197-218
Author(s):  
Naomi F. Sugie ◽  
Dallas Augustine
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Release From Prison

Throughout the reentry literature, there is widespread recognition about the central role of social support—including emotional and instrumental support—to prevent recidivism and promote integration. Although emotional support is often considered a relatively more important construct than instrumental support in scholarship on stress and coping, reentry research generally focuses on the provision of material and informational resources. This chapter analyzes novel data—daily open-ended survey questions via smartphones about a person’s most important positive and negative points of the day—to understand the types of social support that people most value in their daily lives in the immediate months after release from prison. Using this approach, the chapter describes the importance of spending time with others, the central role of children, and changes in support over time. The chapter concludes by recommending that reentry scholars pay greater attention to the construct of emotional support in studies of recidivism and integration.

VITAL MORPHOMETY OF RBC IN THEIR INTERACTION WITH STRESS HORMONES

2020 ◽  
pp. 146-147
Author(s):  
A. Deryugina ◽  
P. Ignatiev ◽  
V. Metelin ◽  
A. Belov ◽  
V. Petrov
Keyword(s):  
Normal State ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Interference Microscopy ◽  
Extreme Condition ◽  
Laser Interference ◽  
Laser Interference Microscopy ◽  
As Stress ◽  
To Receive

The possibility to use the laser interference microscopy in order to assess the RBCs morphology in normal state and in interaction with cortisol and adrenalin as stress hormones was studied. It was established that the laser interference microscopy represented an important instrument permitting to receive the information about physiological state of the RBCs as well as of the organism in the whole in extreme condition. New aspects of cortisol and adrenalin impact on the RBC morphology are defined

scholarly journals Mind–Body Interactions and Mindfulness Meditation in Diabetes

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gagan Priya ◽  
Sanjay Kalra
Keyword(s):  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Lifestyle Modification ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Pharmacological Management ◽  
Psychosocial Wellbeing ◽  
Complementary Role ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Obesity Hypertension ◽  
And Coping

Diabetes is associated with significant psychological distress. It is, therefore, important to ensure the physical and emotional as well as psychosocial wellbeing of individuals living with diabetes. Meditation-based strategies have been evaluated for their complementary role in several chronic disorders including depression, anxiety, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The practice of meditation is associated with reduction in stress and negative emotions and improvements in patient attitude, health-related behaviour and coping skills. There is increased parasympathetic activity with reduction in sympathetic vascular tone, stress hormones and inflammatory markers. Additionally, several studies evaluated the role of mindfulness-based stress reduction in diabetic individuals and demonstrated modest improvements in body weight, glycaemic control and blood pressure. Thus, mindfulness meditation-based intervention can lead to improvements across all domains of holistic care – biological, psychological and social. Though most of these studies have been of short duration and included small numbers of patients, meditation strategies can be useful adjunctive techniques to lifestyle modification and pharmacological management of diabetes and help improve patient wellbeing.

scholarly journals How stress mediators can cumulatively contribute to Alzheimer’s disease An allostatic load approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiane Martins Matos ◽  
Juliana Nery De Souza-Talarico
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Disease Progression ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Modifiable Risk Factors ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Stress Mediators ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT. Allostatic load is defined as the frequent activation of the neuroendocrine, immunological, metabolic and cardiovascular systems, which makes individuals more susceptible to stress-related health problems. According to this model, physiological dysregulations start to emerge decades before diseases manifest. Consequently, stress research has shifted its attention to anticipating the degree of this dysregulation to better understand the impact of stress hormones and other biomarkers on disease progression. In view of the growing number of studies that demonstrate the influence of modifiable risk factors on cognitive decline, in addition to the effects of chronic stress mediators, the objective of the present review was to present an overview of the development of cognitive changes based on studies on stress and its mediators.

scholarly journals Chronic Gestational Inflammation: Transfer of Maternal Adaptation over Two Generations of Progeny

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. M. Adams ◽  
C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Inflammation ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Receptor Expression ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Maternal Inflammation ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Maternal Adaptation ◽  
Inflammatory Profile ◽  
As Stress

Changes in the in utero environment result in generational transfer of maladapted physiology in the context of conditions such as stress, obesity, and anxiety. Given the significant contribution of noncommunicable diseases—which are characterised by chronic inflammation—to population mortality, the potential for chronic maternal inflammation mediating foetal programming is a growing concern. The extent of generational transfer in terms of immune functionality and leukocyte glucocorticoid sensitivity was investigated over two generations of offspring (F1 and F2) in a model of chronic LPS-induced maternal inflammation in C57/BL/6 mice. Maternal inflammation resulted in glucocorticoid hypersensitivity (increased glucocorticoid receptor expression levels) in the majority of leukocyte subpopulations in both F1 and F2 offspring. Furthermore, splenocytes stimulated with LPS in vitro exhibited exacerbated inflammatory cytokine responses, which were even more prominent in F2 than F1; this effect could be ascribed to NLRP3 inflammasome hyperactivity in F1 but not F2. Current data illustrates that parental chronic inflammation may mediate the inflammatory profile in offspring, potentially propagating a maladapted proinflammatory phenotype in subsequent generations.

scholarly journals MECHANISMS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY: Role of emotional stress in the pathophysiology of Graves' disease

2013 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. R13-R18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géraldine Falgarone ◽  
Hassan M Heshmati ◽  
Régis Cohen ◽  
Gérard Reach
Keyword(s):  
Autoimmune Diseases ◽  
Stress Management ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Graves Disease ◽  
T Helper ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Effect Of Therapy ◽  
As Stress

The role of stress in the pathophysiology of Graves' disease is suggested by several clinical observations, by recent advances in immunology and by better understanding of autoimmune diseases which provides new insights into potential effects of stress hormones on T helper cell imbalance involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases. Stress management should therefore be an important part of the treatment of Graves' disease, as stress reduction may improve the effect of therapy. However, this field still requires interventional data to support stress management in the treatment of Graves' disease.

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