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Pain Management Strategies and Alternative Therapies
Published in Nazar N. Amso, Saikat Banerjee, Endometriosis, 2022
Activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is essential for stress response. Dysfunction of this activity has been seen in almost all chronic pain conditions as persistent pain is a stressful situation both physically and psychologically. Studies in women with endometriosis-related pain have shown low cortisol levels; this might result in impairment of stress-induced analgesia as well as exacerbation of inflammatory symptoms of endometriosis leading to further intensification of pain (17). See Figure 6.5.
Naturopathic Medicine and the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease
Published in Stephen T. Sinatra, Mark C. Houston, Nutritional and Integrative Strategies in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2022
An overactive sympathetic nervous system may lead to chronically elevated vasoconstrictive stress hormones that set the stage for hypertension.72 When under chronic stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis overproduces glucocorticoid and catecholamine hormones. These fight-or-flight hormones include cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and can elevate blood sugar and blood pressure causing significant neurohormonal changes including immune system dysfunction. Acutely activating this “fight-or-flight” system is advantageous because heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood flow increase, and our ability to react to stimuli is enhanced. We desperately need these hormones to survive, but balancing them in a chronically stressful environment is key to supporting cardiovascular health.
Pregnancy
Published in Michelle Tollefson, Nancy Eriksen, Neha Pathak, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan, 2021
Nancy L. Eriksen, Kristi R. VanWinden, Anne Bingham, John McHugh
In response to stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis releases cortisol which is known to connect stress with immune function.196 The inflammation connected to stress has been proposed as a mediator to impact neonatal outcomes.197 Several biomarkers of inflammation have been linked to maternal stress levels, including IL-6, IL-10, and C-reactive protein, adding evidence to a biological mechanism connecting stress to fetal outcomes via the immune system.198
Mobile phone induced EMF stress is reversed upon the use of protective devices: results from two experiments testing different boundary conditions
Published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 2022
The main study aimed at replicating the pilot study using a sample with sufficient power. Two study arms mimicked the experimental setup of the pilot study (i.e. duration and intensity of EMF exposure, duration, and type of intervention), and two study arms tested only a mobile phone chip, which was either known to the participants or concealed (open-hidden paradigm). EMF produced marked changes in the autonomic nervous system suggesting a shift from sympathovagal balance to sympathetic activation. This indicated that a mobile phone placed near the head for 15 minutes influenced the medulla oblongata where the vagal nerve originates. The decrease in parasympathetic nerve and heightening of sympathetic activity is a typical physiological response to stressors, which in this study, showed in the vast majority of participants. RMSSD decreased in 14 out of 15 individuals from 2.9% to 22.8% (average: 9.5%) relative to a low EMF environment (baseline). The stress response also showed in an average elevation of cortisol secretion of 22.7%. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis controls cortisol to alter the availability of glucose as part of a fight or flight response. The study’s results are hence in alignment with the stress-response hypothesis put forward by Touitou et al. (2022) which posits elevated cortisol secretion in relation to the intensity of EMF exposure. However, it extends it with regard to exposure time needed to produce elevated secretion, which in this study, was relatively short.
Subarachnoidal hemorrhage related cardiomyopathy: an overview of Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy and related cardiac syndromes
Published in Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy, 2022
Susan Deenen, Dharmanand Ramnarain, Sjaak Pouwels
Heart failure including TTS is a well-recognized complication of neurologic diseases. In normal physiology, the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems have an important role in the regulation of cardiac function [5,15]. The nervus vagus mediates the parasympathetic stimulation of the heart and leads to decreased heart rate, atrioventricular (AV) conduction, and ventricular excitability. Sympathetic stimulation leads to increased heart rate, AV conduction, and ventricular excitability and contractility. Also, the higher cerebral structures such as the frontal cortex, insula, amygdala, cingulate, hypothalamus, and periaqueductal gray matter influence cardiac function [5]. Furthermore, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (neuroendocrine system) influences the cardiac system by creating a stress response and thereby releasing cortisol and catecholamines. Catecholamines influence adrenergic receptors (ARs), leading to increased heart rate, contraction, and changes in blood pressure [5]. How these pathways can be disrupted by neurological injury and thereby cause cardiac dysfunction is a complex process, and many theories are mentioned. However, most recent studies describe an important role for catecholamines [5,9,12,13]. This theory is generally believed to explain the pathophysiology of cardiac dysfunction in SAH patients. SAH can cause mild-to-severe cardiac dysfunction in the form of ECG changes, arrhythmias, LV dysfunction, and release of cardiac biomarkers. In SAH patients with elevated catecholamine levels, it is also described that cardiac enzymes are elevated [1,2,5,12,13].
Change in toddlers’ cortisol activity during a year in childcare. Associations with childcare quality, child temperament, well-being and maternal education
Published in Stress, 2022
Kathrin Nystad, May Britt Drugli, Stian Lydersen, Ratib Lekhal, Elisabet Solheim Buøen
Cortisol is a hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). Cortisol levels both follow a basal daily rhythm, high around awakening and then declining across the day, and under conditions of stress or threat can elevate above basal levels (Gunnar & Herrera, 2013). A daily pattern with mid-afternoon cortisol levels not being higher than mid-morning levels has been observed in children from about 12 months (Gunnar & Donzella, 2002; Watamura et al., 2004). Having a balanced diurnal cycle of cortisol is important for individuals’ development and health (Gunnar & Herrera, 2013). The HPA axis releases additional cortisol if an overly demanding situation is encountered. Rising cortisol levels are recognized as an indicator of social stress (Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006).