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The Science of Stress

Unwinding the Science of Stress

Lifestyle choices and chronic stress, the silent driver behind many preventable health issues.

While acute stress is a natural part of life and can even be beneficial in certain situations, chronic stress has wide-ranging and often harmful effects on the body. According to the American Psychological Association, prolonged stress disrupts almost every system in the body. In modern times, people are often exposed to long-term stressors, whether work-related pressures, financial difficulties, or health concerns. This constant state of heightened stress response has made stress management a key priority in maintaining a lifestyle, as it addresses not just mental health but physical well-being as well. Understanding how your lifestyle choices impact your stress-response is critical to developing behaviors that promote resilience over the long term. Otherwise, unmanaged stress has been linked to having a multitude of health and quality of life issues, such as:

# of American Adults Who Report Feeling Stressed

Source: American Psychological Association

impact-of-chronic-stress-illustration

Measuring cortisol through saliva testing is an established, non-invasive method to assess real-time cortisol fluctuations throughout the day. This dynamic measurement of cortisol provides a more accurate reflection of an individual’s stress response compared to single-point blood tests. Salivary cortisol testing is particularly useful for understanding how lifestyle choices influence chronic stress, allowing for more effective stress monitoring and management. By providing real-time data, it supports personalized lifestyle changes that promote long-term health and well-being.

Cortisol is one of the most studied biomarkers in stress physiology. It is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress and plays a vital role in regulating metabolism, immune function, and inflammation. When stress becomes chronic, cortisol levels remain elevated, leading to a cascade of health problems. The dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis under chronic stress is well-documented in scientific literature, linking cortisol imbalances to various health concerns.

SEMINAL PUBLICATIONS

  1. Chrousos GP, Gold PW. The concepts of stress and stress system disorders. Overview of physical and behavioral homeostasis. JAMA. 1992 Mar 4;267(9):1244-52. Erratum in: JAMA 1992 Jul 8;268(2):200. PMID: 1538563.
  2. Sternberg EM, Chrousos GP, Wilder RL, Gold PW. The stress response and the regulation of inflammatory disease. Ann Intern Med. 1992 Nov 15;117(10):854-66. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-117-10-854. PMID: 1416562.
  3. Stalder T, Oster H, Abelson JL, Huthsteiner K, Klucken T, Clow A. The cortisol awakening response: regulation and functional significance. Endocr Rev. 2024 Aug 23:bnae024. doi: 10.1210/endrev/bnae024. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39177247.
  4. McEwen BS. Neurobiological and Systemic Effects of Chronic Stress. Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks). 2017 Jan-Dec;1:2470547017692328. doi: 10.1177/2470547017692328. Epub 2017 Apr 10. PMID: 28856337; PMCID: PMC5573220.
  5. McEwen BS. Brain on stress: how the social environment gets under the skin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Oct 16;109 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):17180-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1121254109. Epub 2012 Oct 8. Erratum in: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Jan 22;110(4):1561. PMID: 23045648; PMCID: PMC3477378.
  6. McEwen BS. Stressed or stressed out: what is the difference? J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2005 Sep;30(5):315-8. PMID: 16151535; PMCID: PMC1197275.

*Note: This information is provided for research use only. Information is not provided to promote off-label use of medical devices and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, condition, or be used for medical purposes of any kind. If you have questions regarding this information, please connect with your healthcare provider as Salimetrics cannot provide medical advice.

Contact: Salimetrics (USA)
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