Adrenal glands are categorized under the major endocrine glands. The endocrine system is composed of a small group of glands that communicate and work together to coordinate all body systems. These glands produce chemicals that are called hormones.
The adrenal glands pair consists of the adrenal medulla and adrenal cortex. The adrenal cortex produces two kinds of hormones: 1.) Cortisol and 2.) Aldosterone.
Adrenal glands are two glands that are located on top of the right and left kidneys. The right adrenal gland is triangular in shape, while the left is semi lunar in shape, just like the moon cut in half. And the adrenal glands are surrounded by fatty tissues, including renal (kidney) tissues.
What are directly affected by stress are our adrenal glands, since these glands are responsible for the fight or flight response of the body. At the first exposure to stress, the adrenal glands increase in size, wherein the blood that supplies it also increases. As the stress continues, so is the shrinking of the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands’ function is to release hormones to respond to stress.
Therefore in times of exposure to stress, the body’s blood pressure rises, such as the heart beat and breathing. The pupils are also dilated. The intestinal blood moves to the extremities like the arms and the legs. This reaction is meant to be temporary. The changes from the effect of the adrenal glands make the body more efficient at performing their purpose. This is the fight or flight response. If a person survives, his adrenal glands will have time to recover from the stress, but if the person fails his adrenal glands will be overworked. If there is a lot of work put out for the adrenal glands, the immune system will be down and there will be a higher risk for infection and acquiring other diseases. Therefore people who get sick more often are those who are at a high level of exposure to stress.
The blood flow supply to the digestive system is reduced. Because of this, stress causes indigestion, diarrhea, irritable bowel and other gastric problems.
The adrenal hormones cause an increase in clotting the blood, so prolonged stress can lead to formation of plaque and heart disease. So it will be beneficial for one’s health if we are able to handle our stress rationally and keep it at a minimum.
Stress is the response of the body to something unexpected, like something that is not the routine or not the usual thing we are used to. Stress alerts the defense mechanism of the body to respond to it in a way that we did not think we are capable of doing.
Stress unleashes the super human in all of us, and an example is pain, trauma, injury, disease or even accident or calamities such as storm, earthquake, tsunami. This is where ordinary people are able to carry the refrigerator by himself, and able to move furniture outside the burning house, run fast, etc. This is also better known as the adrenalin rush (fight). This response of the body is to fix the irregularity or imbalance, but if the body fails to fix this, there will be exhaustion (flight).
Too much stress can lead to a number of mental and also physical and emotional issues, and can present numerous signs and symptoms. The signs and symptoms of stress are increased irritability, poor sleep, poor memory retention, short attention span. Even focusing and concentrating is also difficult for someone experiencing stress. Sometimes, daily activities are also affected and normal everyday functioning is also disrupted. People under stress can be a lot more sensitive than those who are relaxed, they are easily bothered, and cry easily, gets mad right away and there could also be signs of depression in severe cases.
There are many kinds of stress. One is emotional stress – the kind of stress that targets the feelings and emotions of the person, this is the kind of stress that is mostly the root cause of different mental disorders and problems. Another kind of stress is the chemical stress. These chemical stresses are those that are in our surroundings such as environmental pollution, gas leak, oil leak and garbage that pollute the air we breathe. In addition, there is also a stress type called the physical stress that can be brought about by heat, cold temperatures like the winter, etc. Physical stress can also be an injury, accident, trauma inside and outside the body, internal hemorrhage, fracture, bruise, burn, and so on and so forth.
Stress and other factors can damage our adrenal glands. Other factors that can damage our adrenal glands are adrenal glands disorders that may be inborn or acquired during our lifetime.
Adrenal glands disorders can lead to acute or chronic insufficiency and those related to hyperfunction (overactivity), which most often leads to overproduction of androgen or cortisol.
An example is the acute adrenocortical insufficiency. This is the disorder where the entire cortical adrenal gland becomes insufficient. This usually occurs with severe infection. The symptoms can be an instant extreme drop in the blood pressure, the color of the skin is grayish and the temperature is elevated. Treatment of this is immediate cortisol replacement.
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a syndrome that is inherited. The primary defect is an inability of the adrenal glands to synthesize cortisol. Excessive androgen production makes the female fetus be masculine in some way, like a female infant with a clitoris large enough to appear as a penis.
Another factor that can damage our adrenal glands besides stress is our eating habit or our diet.
Eating small frequent meals and eating less sugar and less salty foods helps the adrenal glands. Eating foods based on the food pyramid is a plus. Therefore our diet plays a crucial role keeping our adrenal glands from damage. So skipping meals and having a sugar rush is not good.
Meditation, yoga, exercise, sports and other relaxing activities are beneficial for one’s health and also helps the damaged adrenal glands heal.
Stress works out the adrenal glands, while during the resting, meditating and relaxing mode makes the adrenal glands recover. Therefore we are not only saving our adrenal glands from damage, but also preserving our health if we worry less and if we avoid things that can stress us.
By Lisa Hill MD. Original article link
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