Cortisol is a hormone made by the adrenal cortex (the outer layer of the adrenal gland). It helps the body use glucose (a sugar), protein, and fats. Cortisol made in the laboratory is called hydrocortisone. It is used to treat many conditions, including inflammation, allergies, and some cancers. Cortisol is a type of glucocorticoid hormone.
Did you know that a large belly carries a risk equivalent for coronary artery disease comparable to smoking a pack of cigarettes daily or having high cholesterol? People with coronary artery disease and expanded waistlines are at more than twice the risk of dying, including those with a Body Mass Index (BMI) in the normal range.
It is a commonly held belief that the fitter you are, the healthier you are. Is this so? Most experts agree that a certain level of fitness is required for health.
Two new studies presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Rotterdam show the possible dangers facing patients with Addison's disease are higher than previously thought.
Aging is a natural part of life. From the minute we are born we are heading in one certain direction: towards death. That said, it is possible to arrive at that ultimate destination graceful and vital to our last days rather than chronically ill suffering from one or many debilitating illnesses.
At the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, professor of experimental intensive care medicine dr. Peter Pickkers and his team have performed research on "Iceman" Wim Hof. Hof claims that he can influence his autonomic nervous system and immune response through concentration and meditation.
Queen's University professor Kate Harkness has found that a history of physical, sexual or emotional abuse in childhood substantially increases the risk of depression in adolescence by altering a person's neuroendocrine response to stress.
New research shows that pomegranate juice may help to reduce blood pressure. The findings will be presented today at the 2011 Society for Endocrinology conference in Birmingham, UK.
Scientists have shed new light on how older people may lose their memory with a development that could aid research into treatments for age-related memory disorders.
The hippocampus, a brain region implicated in memory and interpreting environmental contexts, has been the focus of a controversy in posttraumatic stress disorder.
Your blood and the level of a hormone in your spit could reveal if you're on the point of burnout, according to research undertaken by Dr. Sonia Lupien and Robert-Paul Juster of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital and the University of Montreal.
With all of the stresses of today’s modern world, depression is unfortunately becoming a common household word for many people in this country and abroad. During the cold winter months, many also struggle with seasonal depression or “winter blues,” known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Depression can be caused by any number of factors, such as chronic stress, inactivity, hormone or neurotransmitter imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, medication side effects, chronic inflammation, or lack of adequate sunshine exposure, among others.
If your body is in a chronic state of inflammation, it can have serious effects on your cellular health, and has been linked to degenerative diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and many others. Luckily, there are numerous ways to control chronic inflammation naturally and promote overall health in the process.
A recently published study in Nutrition Research and Practice has verified the anti-inflammatory effects in humans of Oligonol® lychee fruit polyphenol. The study examined Oligonol intake on cortisol and related cytokines in healthy young men. Both cortisol and cytokine concentrations are inflammatory markers known to increase when stress such as exercise is caused on the body.
The quality and quantity of maternal milk and maternal-infant contact impact the stress response of the adult offspring, according to recent research published in Developmental Psychobiology.
Young adults who are lesbian, gay or bisexual are at far higher risk for severe mental health problems than their heterosexual peers. New research from Concordia University suggests that the stress of being rejected or victimized because of sexual orientation may disrupt hormonal responses in lesbians, gays and bisexuals.
Specialists at Fortis Hospitals Mumbai successfully diagnosed and treated a previously undetected pituitary tumor in Michelle Hardin, a 35 year-old American medical traveler.
Scientific studies often attribute obesity to poor nutrition and lack of activity, but recent research has identified childhood traumatic stress as a potential risk factor for obesity in adulthood.
A new study shows that exposure to bright light may ease symptoms of depression in elderly people. The researchers tried three weeks of bright light therapy using specially designed light boxes and saw that it improved symptoms of depression by as much as 54% in older adults with depression. The light therapy also improved sleep and optimized levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression and often targeted by antidepressant drugs. This is the first study of its kind to show a beneficial effect of bright light therapy on treating depression in the elderly with non-seasonal major depressive disorder.
For your New Year's fitness resolution, why not turn to something new, but at the same time, very old? A new trend, called Primal fitness, involves practicing activities that our early hunter-gatherer ancestors would have experienced in the wild - movements such as walking, running, balancing, climbing, lifting, carrying, throwing and catching.
Karin E Zimmer's PhD research shows that persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as PCB and mixtures of different POPs, affect the way the adrenal cortex functions and thereby the synthesis of the stress hormone cortisol.
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