Diagnosis – prolonged stress: it is revealed by special tests

In the everyday sense, stress is a kind of unpleasant situation that causes physical or psychological discomfort. Stress at work, stress from moving, from visiting the hospital – almost every day one of us will mention this word. However, in medicine, stress is understood as a set of body reactions that develop under the influence of external or internal stimuli (stressors). Stressors disrupt the normal course of mental and physiological processes, which is why the body produces a set of certain physiologically determined reactions in order to adapt to changing conditions. And since the reactions are physiologically determined, they can be detected by laboratory methods.

stress technology

One of the theories of stress, which is used in modern medicine, was developed by the Canadian scientist Hans Selye, an endocrinologist and pathologist, who understood stress as a non-specific reaction of the body to a powerful physical or psychological impact. This impact, whatever it may be, causes a certain state of the body, divided by Selye into three stages – they are also the stages of stress development:

1) alarm reaction,

2) resistance,

3) exhaustion.

Normally, everything is limited to two stages that are needed to deal with stressors. According to an expert in the field of laboratory diagnostics Valery Savanovich, the main role in the development of the body’s reaction to adapt to stressors belongs to the adrenal hormones – catecholamines and glucocorticosteroids. They are often referred to as stress hormones.

“These hormones increase heart rate and breathing, increase blood pressure and blood clotting, and cause “beneficial” hyperglycemia, where blood sugar levels rise to give the body more energy to deal with stressors. These are all useful consequences of the stress reaction, they include in the body those mechanisms that are necessary for a quick response to the effects of stressors, ”says Valery Savanovich.

At the same time, not only acceleration occurs, but also a slowdown in a number of processes that will not help overcome the dangers here and now: the work of the immune, reproductive, and digestive systems slows down. When the danger has passed and the stress reaction is on the decline, then all physiological reactions return to their usual state, and the restoration of the body begins.

Why is chronic stress bad?

From this description it may seem that there is no harm from stress, it is a complete benefit, but this is not so. Protracted, or chronic stress refers already to the last, third stage: exhaustion. The body needs somewhere to take resources to function in an enhanced mode of dealing with stressors. However, the adaptive capabilities of the body are not infinite and are quickly depleted if the impact of stressors does not stop. Thus, the body cannot move to the recovery phase, which depletes it even more. This creates a vicious circle of chronic stress.

With chronic stress, glucocorticoids begin to have a pathological effect: for example, suppression of the immune system leads to increased vulnerability to viruses and infections (including the notorious coronavirus). Exposure to glucocorticoids causes inflammation and ulceration of the gastric mucosa, disturbances in the production of thyroid hormones, which can lead to hypothyroidism (lack of thyroid hormones).

Persistent hyperglycemia develops – constantly elevated blood sugar levels, which causes insulin resistance, which can and often becomes a harbinger of diabetes mellitus. But this is not the limit: with chronic stress, hyperlipidemia can develop – an increase in the level of lipids or lipoproteins in the blood, which leads to the development of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis.

Another consequence is hypoalbuminemia, a decrease in the level of albumin in the blood serum. This may indicate renal and hepatic insufficiency, and outwardly manifests itself in the appearance of generalized edema. Finally, it is worth mentioning hypercoagulability, which leads to the formation of blood clots in the vessels, and a persistent increase in blood pressure with the risk of hypertension.

Tests against stress

Since prolonged stress is a complex of physiologically conditioned reactions, it can be detected by analyzing the concentration of adrenal hormones in the blood. But here it is important to keep in mind that catecholamines quickly disappear from the bloodstream, and the concentration of cortisol at the stage of exhaustion may be reduced. In order not to fall into this trap, the doctor can additionally select a number of studies:

– a general blood test – since all changes in the body are immediately reflected in the composition of the blood, especially such serious ones as those listed above;

– glucose in serum and (or) blood plasma, glycated hemoglobin – needed to detect persistent hyperglycemia;

– decrease in the level of albumin in the blood serum;

– lipidogram – studies the state of fat metabolism, can show atherogenic changes (i.e. leading to atherosclerosis);

– coagulogram – shows the state of the blood, helps to identify the risks of thrombosis;

– TSH and thyroid hormones – needed to detect hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism;

– a complex study of sex hormones – especially in women in whom chronic stress can cause a decrease in progesterone levels.

However, you do not need to drop everything and run to take all the tests that you can. First, it’s not cheap. Secondly, the manifestations of chronic stress are actually the initial symptoms of serious diseases, and it is impossible to treat them on your own, according to advice from the Internet.

You need to contact a doctor who will collect an anamnesis, analyze complaints and compile the necessary list of tests, according to the results of which he will refer the person to specialized doctors: endocrinologists, gastroenterologists, cardiologists, etc. And they will already select tactics for treating the consequences of prolonged stress.