Stress Synthesis Essay

Stress is sometimes beneficial, but when it becomes chronically negative, it mirrors negative effects on the body. Cortisol is the hormone in charge of the stress response—it is a glucocorticoid located in the adrenal cortex that is synthesized from cholesterol and regulated by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. It works to maintain the body’s level of homeostasis after it undergoes stress, and also impacts many other hormones involved in processes including metabolism and immune responses. When the body is under a lot of negative stress, there are indeed long-term effects on the glucocorticoid synthesis and the function of the pituitary-adrenal axis due to the intensity of the stress response being mainly controlled by glucocorticoids. …show more content…
Then, the CRH signals the pituitary gland to release ACTH, which signals for a final outcome of cortisol being released. This continuous feedback system between CRH, ACTH, and cortisol is what makes up the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). When there is continuous stress placed upon the body, the HPA axis has a more difficult time keeping the feedback system in balance for reasons that could include the circadian rhythm being thrown off and the heightened levels of cortisol releases depending on how high the levels of stress reach. Cortisol works in an inhibitory feedback loop—it blocks the secretion of corticotropin-releasing hormones and prevents the interactions involving glucocorticoid secretion. When under constant stress, the feedback inhibition becomes disrupted, and increased levels of cortisol become released from the adrenal cortex when they should not be. Thus, a stressed student experiencing negative stress would have increased glucocorticoid