Stress Module

Stress

In medical terms, stress is a physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental or physiological reactions that may lead to illness. Technically speaking, stress is a disruption of homeostasis, which may be triggered by alarming experiences, either real or imaginary.

Hans Selye is known as the father of stress physiology. Selye mapped out what he calls the “general adaptation syndrome.” The G.A.S. is alternately known as the stress syndrome, this is what Selye came to call the process under which the body confronts "stress" (noxious agents). In the G.A.S., the body passes through three universal stages of coping. First there is an "alarm reaction," in which the body prepares itself for "fight or flight." No organism can sustain this condition of excitement, however, and a second stage of adaptation ensues (provided the organism survives the first stage). In the second stage, a resistance to the stress is built. Finally, if the duration of the stress is sufficiently long, the body eventually enters a stage of exhaustion, a sort of aging "due to wear and tear."

"Stress," in Selye's lexicon, could be anything from prolonged food deprivation to the injection of a foreign substance into the body, to a good muscular workout; by "stress," he did not mean only "nervous stress," but "the nonspecific response of the body to any demand."

The Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) (or visceral nervous system) is the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls homeostasis. It does so mostly by controlling cardiovascular, digestive and respiratory functions, but also salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils, micturition - (the discharge of urine), and erection.

Sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions typically function in opposition to each other. But this opposition is better termed complementary in nature rather than antagonistic. For an analogy, one may think of the sympathetic division as the accelerator and the parasympathetic division as the brake. The sympathetic division typically functions in actions requiring quick responses. The parasympathetic division functions with actions that do not require immediate reaction. Consider sympathetic as "fight or flight" and parasympathetic as "rest and digest".

However, many instances of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity cannot be ascribed to "fight" or "rest" situations. For example, standing up from a reclining or sitting position would entail an unsustainable drop in blood pressure if not for a compensatory increase in the arterial sympathetic tonus. Another example is the constant, second to second modulation of heart rate by sympathetic and parasympathetic influences, as a function of the respiratory cycles. More generally, these two systems should be seen as permanently modulating vital functions, in usually antagonistic fashion, to achieve homeostasis.

The Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for up- or down-regulating many homeostatic mechanisms in living organisms. Fibers from the SNS innervate tissues in almost every organ system, providing at least some regulatory function to things as diverse as pupil diameter, gut motility, and urinary output. It is perhaps best known for mediating the neuronal and hormonal stress response commonly known as the fight or flight response.

Science typically looks at the SNS as an automatic regulation system, that is, one that operates without the intervention of conscious thought. Some evolutionary theorists suggest that the sympathetic nervous system operated in early organisms to maintain survival (Evolution of Consciousness, Robert Ornstein[1]; et al.), as the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for priming the body for action. One example of this priming is in the moments before waking, in which sympathetic outflow spontaneously increases in preparation for action.

Messages travel through the SNS in a bidirectional flow. Efferent (out going) messages can trigger changes in different parts of the body simultaneously. For example, the sympathetic nervous system can accelerate heart rate; widen bronchial passages; decrease motility (movement) of the large intestine; constrict blood vessels; increase peristalsis in the esophagus; cause pupil dilation, piloerection (goose bumps) and perspiration (sweating); and raise blood pressure. Afferent (incoming) messages carry sensations such as heat, cold, or pain.

Functions:

- Diverts blood flow away from the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract and skin via vasoconstriction.
- Inhibits Cellular Mediated Immunity
- Blood flow increases to skeletal muscles.
- Dilates bronchioles of the lung, which allows for greater oxygen exchange.
- Increases heart rate and the contractility of cardiac cells, thereby providing a mechanism for the enhanced blood flow to skeletal muscles.
- Dilates pupils and relaxes the lens, allowing more light to enter the eye.

Note that these are all very intelligent responses by your body in an emergency situation. They will help you best respond to a threat by activating muscles and diverting resources to where they are needed.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

Sometimes called the rest and digest system, the parasympathetic system conserves energy as it slows the heart rate, increases gut motility, and relaxes sphincter muscles (like the iris of the eye, or the muscles that close off the stomach) throughout the body.

- Dilates blood vessels leading to the GI tract, increasing blood flow. This is important following the consumption of food, due to the greater metabolic demands placed on the body by the gut.
- Promotes Cellular Mediated Immunity.
- Constricts the bronchiolar diameter if the need for oxygen is less.
- Constriction of the pupil and lens.
- Stimulates salivary gland secretion, accelerates gut motility, mediates digestion of food, and indirectly the absorption of nutrients.
- Is also involved in erection of genitals, via the pelvic splanchnic nerves 2-4.

Cortisol, the “Stress Hormone”

Cortisol is one of the primary hormones that is involved in the response to stress; it increases blood pressure, blood sugar levels, may cause infertility in women, and suppresses the immune system.

- Cortisol acts as a physiological antagonist to insulin by promoting gluconeogenesis, breakdown of lipids (lipolysis), and proteins, for energy.
- Cortisol lowers the activity of the immune system in the blood. It does this by preventing T-cells from replicating. T-cells make white blood cells and provide a major role for immune function.
- Cortisol helps to create memories when exposure is short-term (if you’ve ever burnt your hand on a stove, you probably remember it pretty well!) However, long-term exposure to cortisol results in damage to cells in the hippocampus. This damage results in impaired learning in the long term.
- Cortisol increases blood pressure by increasing the affectiveness of catecholamines like adrenaline.

Please keep in mind, the secretion of cortisol in an emergency situation is a very intelligent thing for your body to do. You will need to break down energy stores to be able to fight a saber-tooth tiger, or run away from a threat. However, over an increased period of time cortisol will break down your body and cause chronic disease. Perhaps the best example of this would be Type II Diabetes. Diabetes occurs when the body’s cells develop a resistance to insulin and can no longer take in glucose. When the body secretes cortisol to breakdown energy, it is doing so to get that energy to the necessary cells (like muscle cells) to respond to a threat. To make sure it doesn’t get taken up by other tissues along the way, it also serves to down-regulate receptors on other cells. Over time, these cells will become resistant to taking up glucose even when they are supposed to, leading to a state of diabetes.

Stress and Chiropractic

Stress is the largest recognized cause of subluxation.

Your brain functions on a balance of nociception (noxious stimuli), and proprioception (movement). Nociceptors are receptors in your body, all over your body, that pick up any kind of noxious stimuli (nociception). Notice that nociception is different than pain. Pain is a conscious and emotional response to nociception. Not all nociception is conscious. You are likely not aware of most noxious processes taking place in your body.

Proprioceptors are also all over your body and they detect movement. In the spine a proprioceptor can detect less than a nanometer of movement. If a joint cannot go through its normal range of motion, the body recognizes this as noxious stimuli and will initiate the body’s stress response via the sympathetic nervous system. When a proprioceptor fires it inhibits nociception and thereby inhibits the sympathetic nervous system and inhibits the stress response.

Only exercise and chiropractic stimulates proprioceptors and inhibits nociception via the pathways in the spine and brain.

A subluxation is commonly a joint that has lost its ability to move or to move properly. This nociceptive input stimulates the stress response. A chiropractic adjustment restores proper joint motion, stimulates proprioceptors and inhibits the stress response from the body. (Note: exercise cannot correct subluxation once it is present, but it is essential for long term wellness and prevention.)

Stimulation to the spine also stimulates different areas of the brain. Every adjustment fires to the cerebellum, which fires to the hypothalamus, which controls the immune and autonomic function of the body. Therefore the chiropractic adjustment can then have far reaching effects beyond just the perception of pain, but the actual function of organs. Every chiropractic adjustment indirectly helps to up-regulate immune function.

Stress Reduction Techniques for home

4 X 4 Breathing – 4 seconds in, 4 seconds hold, 4 seconds out, 4 seconds hold, repeat. Just try this 2 or 3 times and see how much better you feel. This strategy can also be used before bed for about 15 minutes to greatly improve sleep.

Stretch, Exercise, Move, get adjusted, stimulate those proprioceptors!!!!!

Keep a Journal or a Diary. It is often easier to give up troubling thoughts after you have written them down somewhere.

References

1. ^ The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company; see here

2. ^ Ron de Kloet E. et al. (2005). "Stress and the brain: from adaptation to disease". Nature Reviews Neuroscience 6, 463-475. PMID 15891777

3. Chestnut, James (2003). “The 14 foundational premises for the scientific and philosophical validation of the chiropractic wellness paradigm.” The wellness practice, Victoria, British Columbia.