Hormonal Regulators of the Stress System. Your Questions answered by Internal Specialist, Dr Mera.

Human organisms have to cope with a large number of external or internal stressful stimuli that threaten -or are perceived as threatening- their internal dynamic balance or homeostasis. To face these disturbing forces, or stressors, organisms have developed a complex neuroendocrine system, the stress system, which consists of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the locus caeruleus (LC)/norepinephrine (NE)-autonomic nervous system (ANS).

Upon exposure to stressors beyond a certain threshold, the activation of the stress system leads to a series of physiological and behavioral adaptations that help achieve homeostasis and increase the chances of survival. When, however, the stress response to stressors is inadequate, excessive or prolonged, the resultant maladaptation may lead to the development of several stress-related pathologic conditions. Adverse environmental events, especially during critical periods of life, such as prenatal life, childhood and puberty/adolescence, in combination with the underlying genetic background, may leave deep, long-term epigenetic imprints in the human expressed genoma.