Cortisol Hormone in Hair Follicles Identify Stress, Predict Heart Attacks | Hair & Chronic Stress | LiveScience: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100903072320.htm
Many people are now familiar with the stress hormone cortisol. The most common method of testing is with a single blood test. Lately a four sample salivary test has become more popular as a means of measuring cortisol levels throughout the day. Now researchers have developed a hair cortisol test which can measure levels over a period of up to 10 months. This test is not yet available to the public but it will one day be the most comprehensive way of testing long term cortisol levels around.
Showing posts with label cortisol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cortisol. Show all posts
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Monday, December 07, 2009
Men Are From Mars -- Neuroscientists Find That Men And Women Respond Differently To Stress
Male and female brains respond differently to stress. Men go into fight or flight mode and women respond emotionally. This can effect how treatment is geared for different people.
Here is the most important part of the article. Read just this if you don't want to read the whole piece:
Men Are From Mars -- Neuroscientists Find That Men And Women Respond Differently To Stress
Here is the most important part of the article. Read just this if you don't want to read the whole piece:
"FIGHT OR FLIGHT: Certain events act as "stressors," triggering the nervous system to produce hormones to respond to the perceived danger. Specifically, the adrenal glands produce more adrenaline and cortisol, releasing them into the bloodstream. This speeds up heart and breathing rates, and increases blood pressure and metabolism. These and other physical changes help us to react quickly and effectively under pressure.
This is known as the "stress response," or more commonly, as the "fight or flight response." But if even low levels of stress go on too long, it can be detrimental to one's health. The nervous system remains slightly activated and continues to pump out extra stress hormones over an extended period, leaving the person feeling depleted or overwhelmed, and weakening the body's immune system.
STRESS-REDUCING TIPS: There are several easy, practical things people can do to reduce the amount of stress in their lives. (1) Be realistic and don't try to be perfect, or expect others to be so. (2) Don't over-schedule; cut out an activity or two when you start to feel overwhelmed. (3) Get a good night's sleep. (4) Get regular exercise to manage stress -- just not excessive or compulsive exercise -- and follow a healthy diet. (5) Learn to relax by building time into your schedule for reading or a nice long bath.
Men Are From Mars -- Neuroscientists Find That Men And Women Respond Differently To Stress
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A Mysterious Link Between Sleeplessness and Heart Disease
Sleep 7 hours a night, my friends. Here's another reason why. Your brain needs it and your organs need it particularly if you're under more stress than you can handle. Why are you not sleeping? Are you staying up late watching TV and surfing the net? Or do you go to bed and have trouble sleeping? With some work on your part and nutritional solutions to your hormonal problems you can normalize sleep and improve your waking hours and your life!
Lack of sleep and lack of regular sleep times has a negative effect on hormone balances. Melatonin, cortisol, and insulin are thrown out of balance. This will age you faster than normal and lead to some diseases on the way. It will cause you to start on prescription meds and put your health and life on a downward cycle. Are you waiting for the crisis to hit before you change your habits? The average person is symptom oriented only. If there's no pain there's no problem they think. Only they don't understand that the first symptom of a heart attack is the heart attack. The deadliest cancers are often asymptomatic until it's end stage and too late. It's already a big event when you feel the pain! The human nervous system does not make pain a priority. It has lots of other things to deal with. By the time you feel pain you're experiencing a major event of some sort. Sometimes it's fixable and sometimes it's not.
Sleep. Recharge your battery. Normalize your sleep and normalize your life. Be in balance with your purpose. Be healthy and choose life!
By RONI CARYN RABIN December 24, 2008, NYT
People who don’t get much sleep are more likely than those who do to develop calcifications in their coronary arteries, possibly raising their risk for heart disease, a new study has found.
The 495 participants in the study filled out sleep questionnaires and kept a log of their hours in bed. At night they also wore motion-sensing devices around their wrists that estimate the number of hours of actual sleep. At the beginning, none of the participants, who were ages 35 to 47, had evidence of coronary artery calcification.
Five years later, 27 percent of those who were sleeping less than five hours a night on average had developed coronary artery calcification for the first time, while only 6 percent of those who were sleeping seven hours or more had developed it. Among those who were sleeping between five and seven hours a night, 11 percent had developed coronary artery calcification, the study found.
After accounting for various other causes, the researchers concluded that one hour more of sleep per night was associated with a 33 percent decrease in the odds of calcification, comparable to the heart benefit gained by lowering one’s systolic blood pressure by 17 millimeters of mercury.
The study was published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The data were drawn from the ongoing Coronary Artery Risk Development In Young Adults study.
Senior author Diane S. Lauderdale cautioned that the new report does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between a lack of sleep and heart disease.
“It’s important to say that this is the first report and this does not yet prove the association is causal,” said Dr. Lauderdale, an associate professor of health studies at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “Until we know what the mechanism is -- that it’s really a direct or a causal relationship -- there is no point in making recommendations based on this.”
Although a number of studies have suggested that people who sleep less are at greater risk of heart disease and death, this is the first investigation to measure how much its subjects actually are sleeping, said Dr. Sanjay Patel, assistant professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and expert in sleep medicine. Patients’ own self-assessments can be very inaccurate, he added.
What isn’t clear is whether reduced sleep triggers physiological changes that increase heart disease risk, or whether a third, unrelated factor causes both changes, he said.
“It’s possible, for example, that people who are under more stress may be both sleeping less and at higher risk of heart disease,” Dr. Patel said.
If so, he added, “If we got those people to sleep more but they still were under a lot of stress, it wouldn’t change their risk of heart disease.”
Higher education levels are also associated with both a lower risk of heart disease and a tendency to get more sleep, said Dr. Lauderdale.
But it is also possible that lack of sleep leads to certain changes, like increasing blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can raise the risk of coronary artery disease over time, Dr. Lauderdale said.
Another possible mechanism could be through the effect that sleep has on average blood pressure levels over a 24-hour period. Blood pressure usually dips when people are asleep, which could provide health benefits for those who get more sleep, Dr. Lauderdale suggested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/health/research/24sleep.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Lack of sleep and lack of regular sleep times has a negative effect on hormone balances. Melatonin, cortisol, and insulin are thrown out of balance. This will age you faster than normal and lead to some diseases on the way. It will cause you to start on prescription meds and put your health and life on a downward cycle. Are you waiting for the crisis to hit before you change your habits? The average person is symptom oriented only. If there's no pain there's no problem they think. Only they don't understand that the first symptom of a heart attack is the heart attack. The deadliest cancers are often asymptomatic until it's end stage and too late. It's already a big event when you feel the pain! The human nervous system does not make pain a priority. It has lots of other things to deal with. By the time you feel pain you're experiencing a major event of some sort. Sometimes it's fixable and sometimes it's not.
Sleep. Recharge your battery. Normalize your sleep and normalize your life. Be in balance with your purpose. Be healthy and choose life!
A Mysterious Link Between Sleeplessness and Heart Disease
By RONI CARYN RABIN December 24, 2008, NYT
People who don’t get much sleep are more likely than those who do to develop calcifications in their coronary arteries, possibly raising their risk for heart disease, a new study has found.
The 495 participants in the study filled out sleep questionnaires and kept a log of their hours in bed. At night they also wore motion-sensing devices around their wrists that estimate the number of hours of actual sleep. At the beginning, none of the participants, who were ages 35 to 47, had evidence of coronary artery calcification.
Five years later, 27 percent of those who were sleeping less than five hours a night on average had developed coronary artery calcification for the first time, while only 6 percent of those who were sleeping seven hours or more had developed it. Among those who were sleeping between five and seven hours a night, 11 percent had developed coronary artery calcification, the study found.
After accounting for various other causes, the researchers concluded that one hour more of sleep per night was associated with a 33 percent decrease in the odds of calcification, comparable to the heart benefit gained by lowering one’s systolic blood pressure by 17 millimeters of mercury.
The study was published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The data were drawn from the ongoing Coronary Artery Risk Development In Young Adults study.
Senior author Diane S. Lauderdale cautioned that the new report does not prove a cause-and-effect relationship between a lack of sleep and heart disease.
“It’s important to say that this is the first report and this does not yet prove the association is causal,” said Dr. Lauderdale, an associate professor of health studies at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “Until we know what the mechanism is -- that it’s really a direct or a causal relationship -- there is no point in making recommendations based on this.”
Although a number of studies have suggested that people who sleep less are at greater risk of heart disease and death, this is the first investigation to measure how much its subjects actually are sleeping, said Dr. Sanjay Patel, assistant professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and expert in sleep medicine. Patients’ own self-assessments can be very inaccurate, he added.
What isn’t clear is whether reduced sleep triggers physiological changes that increase heart disease risk, or whether a third, unrelated factor causes both changes, he said.
“It’s possible, for example, that people who are under more stress may be both sleeping less and at higher risk of heart disease,” Dr. Patel said.
If so, he added, “If we got those people to sleep more but they still were under a lot of stress, it wouldn’t change their risk of heart disease.”
Higher education levels are also associated with both a lower risk of heart disease and a tendency to get more sleep, said Dr. Lauderdale.
But it is also possible that lack of sleep leads to certain changes, like increasing blood levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can raise the risk of coronary artery disease over time, Dr. Lauderdale said.
Another possible mechanism could be through the effect that sleep has on average blood pressure levels over a 24-hour period. Blood pressure usually dips when people are asleep, which could provide health benefits for those who get more sleep, Dr. Lauderdale suggested.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/health/research/24sleep.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Child's sleep linked to adulthood obesity risk
Adequate sleep is needed for normal cortisol and melatonin levels. When cortisol is high so is insulin. Insulin regulates blood sugar but it also helps to promote fat deposits. Ghrelin, a hormone which regulates satiation is also affected. Kids getting the usual Standard American Diet (SAD) of lots of sugar and artificial sweeteners, chemical additives, lots of simple carbs, low fiber, inadequate water and not enough excercise will sleep poorly. This will set up the vicious cycle of not enough sleep leading to obesity. The key point in this article is that the research shows that kids who don't get enough sleep in childhood will become obese adults. It has long term effects.
The bedroom should be free of distractions like TVs, computers, stereos, etc. It should be dark and well ventilated. The mattress should be firm and comfortable. The room and bedding should be as dust free as possible to reduce or eliminate dust mites. In short it should be a relaxing haven and a place to disconnect from the rest of the world. The bedroom should be for sleeping only, therefore no eating and no reading. Some of these suggestions may rub some the wrong way, but please just stop and think about how much stimulation we are exposed to every day. One of the main functions of the brain is to dampen all of the sensory stimuli that come our way. In today's electronic world we are constatly bombarding the brain with too much stimulus. At the very least the bedroom should be the place to shut it all out and give our brain and body a chance to recoup and function normally!
Mon Nov 3, 2008 11:50am EST
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Consistently getting a good night's sleep may help protect children from becoming obese as adults, a study published Monday suggests.
Researchers found that among more than 1,000 people followed from birth to age 32, those who got too little sleep as children were more likely than their well-rested counterparts to become obese adults.
Even with a range of other factors considered -- like childhood weight and TV habits, and adulthood exercise levels -- there remained a link between sleep deprivation during childhood and obesity risk later in life.
All of this supports the idea that early sleep habits have a direct effect on weight in the long term, according to Dr. Robert John Hancox, the study's senior author.
"Although we cannot prove that this is a cause-and-effect relationship," he told Reuters Health, "this study provides strong evidence that it probably is."
Hancox and his colleagues at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, report the findings in the journal Pediatrics.
A number of studies have found that sleep-deprived adults and children are at greater risk of being overweight. However, this is the first study to show a long-term relationship between sleep and obesity risk, Hancox said.
The study involved 1,037 men and women who had been followed since their birth, between 1972 and 1973, up to the age of 32. When the participants were 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old, their parents reported on their usual bed time and wake-up time.
In general, Hancox and his colleagues found, as childhood sleep time declined, adulthood body mass index, or BMI, climbed.
Adults who had been "short sleepers" as children -- averaging fewer than 11 hours in bed each night -- generally had a higher BMI than those who'd gotten more sleep as kids.
"Importantly, this is not because children who were short sleepers grew up to be short sleepers as adults," Hancox pointed out. "In other words, inadequate sleep in childhood appears to have long-lasting consequences."
The findings, according to the researchers, suggest that weight control may stand as another reason for children to get a good night's sleep. Experts generally recommend that children between the ages of 5 and 12 sleep for about 11 hours each night, while teenagers should get 8.5 to 9.5 hours. **(Dr. Rosenberg's note; 7 hours of sleep per night is optimal for most adults).
It's thought that children today are getting less sleep than the generations before them did, Hancox noted. That trend, he added, could be helping to feed the rise in obesity.
No one knows for certain why lack of sleep is linked to heavier weight. One theory, based on research in the sleep lab, is that sleep deprivation alters the normal balance of appetite-stimulating and appetite-suppressing hormones. Sleepy children may also be too tired for physical activity during the day.
SOURCE: Pediatrics, November 2008.
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE4A24DL20081103
The bedroom should be free of distractions like TVs, computers, stereos, etc. It should be dark and well ventilated. The mattress should be firm and comfortable. The room and bedding should be as dust free as possible to reduce or eliminate dust mites. In short it should be a relaxing haven and a place to disconnect from the rest of the world. The bedroom should be for sleeping only, therefore no eating and no reading. Some of these suggestions may rub some the wrong way, but please just stop and think about how much stimulation we are exposed to every day. One of the main functions of the brain is to dampen all of the sensory stimuli that come our way. In today's electronic world we are constatly bombarding the brain with too much stimulus. At the very least the bedroom should be the place to shut it all out and give our brain and body a chance to recoup and function normally!
Mon Nov 3, 2008 11:50am EST
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Consistently getting a good night's sleep may help protect children from becoming obese as adults, a study published Monday suggests.
Researchers found that among more than 1,000 people followed from birth to age 32, those who got too little sleep as children were more likely than their well-rested counterparts to become obese adults.
Even with a range of other factors considered -- like childhood weight and TV habits, and adulthood exercise levels -- there remained a link between sleep deprivation during childhood and obesity risk later in life.
All of this supports the idea that early sleep habits have a direct effect on weight in the long term, according to Dr. Robert John Hancox, the study's senior author.
"Although we cannot prove that this is a cause-and-effect relationship," he told Reuters Health, "this study provides strong evidence that it probably is."
Hancox and his colleagues at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, report the findings in the journal Pediatrics.
A number of studies have found that sleep-deprived adults and children are at greater risk of being overweight. However, this is the first study to show a long-term relationship between sleep and obesity risk, Hancox said.
The study involved 1,037 men and women who had been followed since their birth, between 1972 and 1973, up to the age of 32. When the participants were 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old, their parents reported on their usual bed time and wake-up time.
In general, Hancox and his colleagues found, as childhood sleep time declined, adulthood body mass index, or BMI, climbed.
Adults who had been "short sleepers" as children -- averaging fewer than 11 hours in bed each night -- generally had a higher BMI than those who'd gotten more sleep as kids.
"Importantly, this is not because children who were short sleepers grew up to be short sleepers as adults," Hancox pointed out. "In other words, inadequate sleep in childhood appears to have long-lasting consequences."
The findings, according to the researchers, suggest that weight control may stand as another reason for children to get a good night's sleep. Experts generally recommend that children between the ages of 5 and 12 sleep for about 11 hours each night, while teenagers should get 8.5 to 9.5 hours. **(Dr. Rosenberg's note; 7 hours of sleep per night is optimal for most adults).
It's thought that children today are getting less sleep than the generations before them did, Hancox noted. That trend, he added, could be helping to feed the rise in obesity.
No one knows for certain why lack of sleep is linked to heavier weight. One theory, based on research in the sleep lab, is that sleep deprivation alters the normal balance of appetite-stimulating and appetite-suppressing hormones. Sleepy children may also be too tired for physical activity during the day.
SOURCE: Pediatrics, November 2008.
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE4A24DL20081103
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Do You Know Your Cortisol Levels?
Everyone experiences stress. Stress is a normal part of everyday life and to a degree it’s even beneficial to our physiology and well-being, but chronic long term stress that goes untreated can be very unhealthy. The quantity and quality of stress we encounter, our ability to cope with it, and our genetic makeup all contribute to our overall health.
In a stressful event the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland secretes a hormone called ACTH. ACTH tells the adrenal glands, which sit on top of the kidneys, to secrete a powerful glucocorticoid called cortisol. Cortisol has wide ranging effects on the body. It regulates carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism, stimulates gluconeogenesis (the formation of carbohydrates from proteins in the liver), and modulates the inflammatory response, and thereby immune function, due to fever, injury, and allergies. Cortisol stimulates the release of insulin from the pancreas and simultaneously decreases the cells’ ability to utilize glucose throughout the body. Excess insulin promotes fat deposition, especially in the belly, and can lead to diabetes melllitus. Cortisol helps the human body adapt to stress by rapidly mobilizing stored amino acids and fats to be used for energy and building other compounds.
In normal transitory stressful events these effects are very beneficial but in long term chronic stress the very same functions of cortisol can be damaging, laying a groundwork for many conditions and diseases, such as depression, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, diabetes, asthma, anxiety, allergies, obesity, impaired adrenal and hypothalamic function, hypothyroidism, loss of mental function, hypertension, increased levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, gastrointestinal disorders, poor wound healing, muscle loss and wasting, thin skin, sleep fragmentation and severe muscle weakness. Cortisol has significant interactions with certain neurotransmitters in the brain and these circuits are associated with depressive symptoms. For reasons that remain unknown the body’s cortisol regulation system can spin out of control as we age. Cortisol levels increase 5 fold even in healthy individuals when they are confronted with stressful events. Chronic stress can lead to adrenal burnout.
There are twenty signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue. If you experience five or more you may have adrenal fatigue.
1. Difficulty getting up in the morning.
2. Continuing fatigue not relieved by sleep.
3. Craving for salt or salty foods and sugar.
4. Lethargy
5. Increased effort to do ordinary tasks.
6. Decreased libido.
7. Decreased ability to handle stress.
8. Increased time to recover from illness, injury or trauma.
9. Light-headed when standing up quickly.
10. Mild depression.
11. Less enjoyment or happiness with life.
12. Increased PMS.
13. Symptoms increase if meals skipped or inadequate.
14. Thoughts less focused.
15. Memory less accurate.
16. Decreased tolerance.
17. Decreased productivity.
18. Muscle weakness.
19. Irregular heartbeat.
20. Increased thirst.
Typical Pattern
1. A.M .Fatigue - Can't wake until 10!
2. Afternoon low between 3 and 4 PM.
3. Feel better after evening meal.
Cortisol is normally secreted in a circadian pattern, rising to a high of 20 ug/dl in the early morning and hitting its low range of 5 ug/dl in the late evening. When we take salivary samples at 6AM, Noon, 4PM, and Midnight we look to see if cortisol is in a normal range. You must know your cortisol all four times and treat it at the time it’s abnormal. As cortisol levels distort high or low this can have a negative effect on insulin and DHEA. Testing is recommended at least once a year. Find out if your cortisol is too high and how to normalize it safely and effectively.
If you are suffering from chronic stress and your cortisol levels are too high you must find ways to start either coping with your stressful situation or changing that situation. If you are not sleeping properly for 7-8 hours per night, you must establish a regular sleeping pattern. This will help to normalize cortisol secretions at the proper times. Effective treatments for high stress and cortisol can include biofeedback, deep breathing, Pilates, meditation and prayer, and exercise. Nutritionally we can use B vitamins, ashwaganda, licorice root, vitamin C, phosphatidylserine, adrenal concentrates, and pantothenic acid. These nutrients do a very fine job of normalizing the stress response in a safe and effective manner. Amino acids may also be utilized to help with the secretion of natural growth hormone, which increases muscle mass, regulates blood sugar, and promotes the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Dietary recommendations are specific to each person but in general we want to increase lean proteins and fresh vegetables and eliminate processed foods such as white flour, rice, and sugar. It’s important to eat specific foods according the results of your test. 64-80 oz of water per day is necessary.
info@DrRosenberg.net
© Reuven M. Rosenberg, D.C.
Disclaimer: Statements made pertaining to the properties and/or functions of nutritional products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and these materials and products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Never discontinue medical prescriptions without the consent of your physician.
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