Cortisolor also known as stress hormone, is the main steroid hormone responsible for the management of stress that occurs in times of threat. The main function of cortisol is to activate the body's defense mechanisms against physical, mental and spiritual stress caused by situations such as danger and pressure. When the hypothalamus in the brain is alerted in the event of a threat, the pituitary gland triggers the adrenal glands by secreting a chemical hormone (adrenocorticotropic) to produce the required amount of cortisol. Thus, it causes the body to respond with the “fight, flight or freeze” response. It is a destructive hormone. Whatever cortisone gets its hands on, it breaks down proteins in muscles, bones and all over the body and turns them into glucose, so that blood sugar rises. Immune mechanisms are immediately disabled. Even when we argue with someone for a short time, some secretions responsible for immunity instantly hit the bottom and cannot rise to normal levels for hours.
When faced with a stress stimulus, the stress response takes over the entire command of the body. There is no organ whose function is not affected. This is a beneficial and necessary mechanism when the stress response is short-lived. But there is a significant problem with this mechanism. No matter what kind of stimulus causes stress, the body responds to the same stress regardless of any difference. That's why insufficient and bad sleep, the stress you experience in traffic, fighting, sleep apnea, fear, anxiety, and endogenous toxins loaded into the body from leaky gut all reveal the same stress response.
The most serious stimulus in terms of both its strength and continuity is psychosocial stress. . Feelings of helplessness, feeling like a victim, pessimistic thoughts, hopelessness, fear are all very strong stress stimuli. People who have negative feelings towards the people around them, but cannot express them and have to suppress them, constitute the most at-risk group in terms of health risk. It is not even necessary for the stressful psychosocial event to be ongoing. Memories of past events, or even thinking about the possibility of events that never happened, create the same physiological response in the body. The sympathetic system and cortisone are at their peak, while the immune system is at its lowest.
Almost all chronic diseases (Parkinson, diabetes, chronic muscle pain, inflammatory diseases) matism, heart diseases, fibromyalgia, etc.) this stress axis is stimulated and the stress response feeds these chronic diseases. The real problem is that stress, which should normally be short-term, becomes chronic. Short-term stressors are harmless and sometimes even beneficial. But being constantly under stress and pressure depletes the body, even if you are not aware of it. While adrenaline secreted from the adrenal gland is effective in the acute phase of the stress response, it is the cortisol hormone secreted from the adrenal gland that is largely responsible for the destruction of the chronic stress response in the body.
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