06.05.07 -- The Stress Syndrome

www.marciazimmerman.com.

By Marcia Zimmerman, CN, co-author 7-Syndrome Healing and author of 7-Color Cuisine

The stress response is a normal part of life. Faced with impending danger, your adrenal glands rapidly pump hormones into your system to get you out of harm’s way. Each adrenal gland is actually two endocrine glands in one. An outer cortex layer produces over 30 different steroids, the primary ones being cortisol, aldosterone, and DHEA. The inner layer or medulla produces the familiar catecholamine hormones epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (nor-adrenaline), and dopamine.1 Catecholamines are also produced in brain cells and this highlights the overlapping brain and adrenal gland (neuroendocrine) response to stress.2 A combination of these hormones is released when the body is subjected to some type of stressor. These fall into one of two classes – either short or long term stressors.

Short-term stressors contain the element of surprise, such as having a frightening experience that might be life-threatening. Neuroendocrine hormones increase heart rate, plus dilate air passages to enable deeper breathing and increased oxygen supply. Blood pressure is increased and blood flow is redirected from the digestive organs to the large muscle groups needed for a quick “exit”. The “adrenaline rush” that is part of the stress response is exhilarating and adds zest to life. However if you are continually subjected to long-term stress stemming from conflicts that you cannot resolve, you could be in for some serious health problems.

Time urgency, rudeness, anger, interruption, overcrowding, and travel – all common in the 21st century – trigger a long-term stress response. They have as great an impact on your health as more extreme stressors such as intensive cold, loud noise, serious injury, burns, and surgery. Both short and long term stress follow a similar pattern in terms of the phases of response. There are four distinct phases; alarm, resistance, exhaustion, and death.

Alarm is characterized by immediate activation of the neuroendocrine system. It is relatively short and very intense. The resistance phase is more prolonged and marked by interaction between three key glands, the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the adrenal glands. This is known as HPA activation and it allows you to accommodate or avoid the stress. Unpleasant symptoms such as chronic headaches, insomnia, heartburn, chest and muscle pain, digestive disturbances, and sexual dysfunction signal your body is struggling to resist the effects of chronic stress. If you don’t nip it in the bud, deeper tissue changes occur. These include lymphoid and thymic tissue shrinkage, adrenal hypertrophy, gastro-intestinal ulceration, central body weight gain, and muscle wasting. Hormonal imbalances and infertility are common. Poor memory, lack of ability to concentrate and psychological problems also occur.3 If adaptation fails, sooner or later one or more body systems will fail and eventually death will follow.

“Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older.” Hans Selye, M.D, Ph.D. the famous “stress doctor” made this statement over 50 years ago. What has been identified as the “accelerated aging profile” is marked by high cortisol levels and low levels of the antiaging hormone DHEA. Relaxation is the anti-aging antidote because it drops cortisol levels and boosts DHEA levels, leading to a more optimal aging profile. Stress management therefore becomes an important anti-aging strategy and the cornerstone of 7-Syndrome Healing.

- Eliminate the stress if at all possible and reduce multi-tasking.
- Be in the moment, think positive thoughts and meditate, pray and relax throughout the day and get plenty of sleep.
- Eat well using the guidelines in 7-Color Cuisine: Nutrition Guide and Cookbook.
- Exercise to keep your mind and body on an even keel and hormones in balance.
- Supplement to counter the effects of stress and increase your ability to cope with it.

Exercise can reverse the biomarkers of aging in all seven syndromes. It benefits the metabolic, cardiovascular, immune, digestive, hormonal and musculoskeletal systems. It improves the quality of life, balance, coordination, and improves organ functionality and fat burning.

Supplementing with symptom specific herbs, vitamins, minerals and amino acids is the first step you will take in “customizing” your personal health program. Adaptogenic herbs helps counteract stress, relieve fatigue, and improve energy. An adaptogen has specific characteristics:

- Provides nonspecific increase in resistance to stress
- Helps normalize physiological effects of stress
- Neither stimulate nor relax beyond normal levels

Ashwaghanda (Withania somnifera) is also known as Indian ginseng and winter cherry. It is used to calm anxiety, nervous disorders, inflammation, and stress-induced sexual debility.4 Ashwagandha is particularly prized for its ability to improve concentration by boosting levels of acetylcholine, the primary “memory neurotransmitter.”5 Additional studies in animals have shown that Ashwagandha has immune-enhancing and cardio protective effects.6,7,8

Eleuthero senticosus, also known as Siberian ginseng, has been used in China and eastern Russia and the northernmost island (Hokkaido) of Japan for over 2,000 years as a non-specific enhancement for resistance. More recently, scientists have found it many reduce allergic response.9 The use of Eleuthero was expanded by the Soviets to improve physical fitness and endurance and today its use has been expanded to enhance the quality of life as we age.10,11

Rhodiola rosea, golden or arctic root, was a best kept secret of the Soviets and highly prized for its ability to enhance physical endurance, training capacity, and resistance to a variety of chemical, biological and physical stressors. Rhodiola has an impressive list of credentials that include stimulating the nervous system, lessening feelings of being overwhelmed, enhancing work performance, improving sleep, reducing fatigue, and preventing high altitude sickness. It does this by balancing catecholamines; serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine levels. As you have seen, these are the neurotransmitters that are involved in the stress/relaxation response.12

Vitamins that are especially important in managing stress are summarized here.

- Natural vitamin C (Amla berries): improves the adaptive capacity of the adrenals

- B-vitamins protect the adrenals from exhaustion (B1), needed for phase 1 liver detoxification (B2, B3, B6, folic acid). Pantethine may slow stress-induced cortisol production and B12 co-enzymes (methylcobalamin, dibencozide) provide energy, regulate circadian rhythms, and improve sleep quality.

- “Semi-vitamins” (nutrients with vitamin-like activity) to include in stress management are GliSODin™, lipoic acid (can boost glutathione levels as much as 30%), polyphenols (flavonols, green tea), and natural carotenoids. Except for these last supplements, you can get the vitamins you need from a good daily multiple (see The Zimmerman file, May 2007).

On a last note, individuals differ in their response to chronic stress, which in turn affects the balance of hormones released. While one person may respond with nervous activity, another may be immobilized with anxiety. More specifics on these responses can be found by reading chapter two “The Stress Syndrome” in 7-Syndrome Healing. Or listen to the audio recording on my website at www.marciazimmerman.com. In the Zimmerman File over the next few months, we will look in depth at how chronic stress affects the metabolic, cardio, immune, malabsorption, hormone and osteo syndromes, and how you can customize your optimum health regimen.

References:

1 Ganong, WH; Review of Medical Physiology 16th ed. Norwalk, CN. Appleton and Lange 1993. pp. 323-332, 339-340

2 Norman, AW; Litwack, G; Hormones 2nd ed. San Diego, CA Academic Press. 1997. pp. 281-315, 319-337

3 Kelly, GS; “Nutritional and Botanical Interventions to Assist with the Adaptation to Stress” Altern. Med. Rev. 1999;4:249-265

4 Withania somnifera monograph Altern Med Rev 2004;9:211-214

5 Lindner, S.; Withania somnifera Austr. J Med 1996;8:78-82

6 Arora, S; et al; “The in vitro antibacterial/syngeristic activities of Withania somnifera” Fitoterapia 2004;75:385-8

7 Padmavathi, B; et al; “Roots of Withania somnifera inhibit forestoamch and skin carcinogenesis in mice” eCAM 2005;2:99-105

8 Mohanty, I; et al; “Mechanisms of cardioprotective effect of Withania somnifera in experimentally induced myocardial infarction: Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol 2004;94:184-90

9 Jeong, HJ; et al; “Inhibitory effects of mast cell-mediated reactions by cell cultured Siberian Ginseng” Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2001;23:107-17

10 Szolomicki, J; et al; The influence of active components of Eleutherococcus senticosus on cellular defense and physical fitness in man” Phytother Res 2000;14:30-5

11 Cicero, AF; et al; “Effects of Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus maxim.) on elderly quality of life: a randomized clinical trial” Arch Gerontol Geriatr Suppl. 2004;0:69-73

12 Rhodiola rosea monograph Altern Med Rev 2002; 7:421-423



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