PHYSorg.com: PHYSorg news tagged with: stress hormones

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05/31/10--10:39: What happens when we get angry? (chan 3146397)

When we get angry, the heart rate, arterial tension and testosterone production increases, cortisol (the stress hormone) decreases, and the left hemisphere of the brain becomes more stimulated. This is indicated by a new investigation lead by scientists from the University of Valencia (UV) that analyses the changes in the brain's cardiovascular, hormonal and asymmetric activation response when we get angry.


06/15/10--09:34: Higher anxiety, depression among women may have basis in cell signals (chan 3146397)

There may be a biological reason why depression and other stress-related psychiatric disorders are more common among women compared to men. Studying stress signaling systems in animal brains, neuroscience researchers found that females are more sensitive to low levels of an important stress hormone and less able to adapt to high levels than males.


06/21/10--12:10: Abusive mothering aggravates the impact of stress hormones (chan 3146397)

In a new Biological Psychiatry article, Dr. Regina Sullivan and colleagues have dissected the behavior of mother rats and their infant pups, modeling nurturing by stroking and abuse with electric shock. In this animal model of infant abuse, they took into consideration the unique infant neurobehavioral learning attachment system that ensures infant rats' attachment to their caregiver regardless of the quality of care received.


07/19/10--14:41: Sea lamprey research sheds light on how stress hormones evolved (chan 3146397)

Michigan State University researchers are the first to identify a stress hormone in the sea lamprey, using the 500 million-year-old species as a model to understand the evolution of the endocrine system.


07/21/10--13:22: A new drug treatment to close the window on colon cancer (chan 3146397)

Cancer surgery wreaks havoc on a body's immune system and stress hormones exacerbate the problem. As a result, about half of those who undergo surgery for tumor removal experience a recurrence of cancer in the same region or other parts of the body.


07/23/10--14:26: The healing effects of forests (chan 3146397)

"Many people," says Dr. Eeva Karjalainen, of the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, "feel relaxed and good when they are out in nature. But not many of us know that there is also scientific evidence about the healing effects of nature."


08/02/10--08:20: Mind over matter? The psychology of healing (chan 3146397)

People suffering from diabetes-related foot ulcers show different rates of healing according to the way they cope and their psychological state of mind, according to new research by a health psychologist at The University of Nottingham.


08/02/10--14:29: Stress hormones help lizards escape from fire ants (chan 3146397)

New research shows that when some fence lizards are attacked by fire ants they "stress out"-- a response that actually helps the species to survive by heightening the animal's awareness of imminent danger. Tracy Langkilde, assistant professor of biology at Penn State University, found that lizards living in areas of the southeastern United States, where large numbers of fire ants also live, have elevated levels of stress hormones, called glucocorticoids.


08/25/10--12:16: Infants can remember emotional events: study (chan 3146397)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study led by a University of Toronto Scarborough psychologist shows that human infants can remember unusual emotional events.


08/25/10--14:01: Growing drought-tolerant crops inching forward (chan 3146397)

A collaborative team of scientists led by researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee, has used the tools of structural biology to understand how a synthetic chemical mimics abscisic acid (ABA), a key stress hormone that helps plants cope with adverse environmental conditions such as drought. The results are published online in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology in advance of print publication later.


09/03/10--03:20: Hair provides proof of the link between chronic stress and heart attack (chan 3146397)

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have provided the first direct evidence using a biological marker, to show chronic stress plays an important role in heart attacks. Stressors such as job, marital and financial problems have been linked to the increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease including heart attack. But there hasn't been a biological marker to measure chronic stress. Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair providing an accurate assessment of stress levels in the months prior to an acute event such as a heart attack. The research is published on-line in the journal Stress.


09/07/10--15:10: Chronic drinking increases levels of stress hormones, leading to neurotoxicity (chan 3146397)

Alcohol consumption, withdrawal, and abstinence can all raise stress hormones in humans and animals. A review has described how stress hormones called glucocorticoids are associated with neurotoxicity during abstinence after withdrawal from alcohol dependence.Glucocorticoid receptor antagonism may therefore represent a pharmacological option for recovery.


09/09/10--04:42: High stress hormone levels linked to increased cardiovascular mortality (chan 3146397)

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol strongly predict cardiovascular death among both persons with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).


09/23/10--08:59: Study reveals stress hormone impacts on alcohol recovery (chan 3146397)

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that high levels of a stress hormone in recovering alcoholics could increase the risk of relapse.


09/29/10--07:11: Study: Stress hormone blocks testosterone's effects (chan 3146397)

High levels of the stress hormone cortisol play a critical role in blocking testosterone's influence on competition and domination, according to new psychology research at The University of Texas at Austin.


09/29/10--08:01: Study finds beta blockers reduce risk of death after surgery (chan 3146397)

Surgical patients with known heart disease risks who are given beta blockers around the time of surgery have a significantly reduced risk of post-operative death compared with patients not given beta blockers, according to a study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.


10/20/10--09:20: New regulator of circadian clock identified (chan 3146397)

Daily sleeping and eating patterns are critical to human well-being and health. Now, a new study from Concordia University has demonstrated how the brain chemical dopamine regulates these cycles by altering the activity of the "clock-protein" PER2. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, these findings may have implications for individuals with Parkinson's Disease with disrupted 24-hour rhythms of activity and sleep.


11/03/10--12:00: Does adolescent stress lead to mood disorders in adulthood? (chan 3146397)

Stress may be more hazardous to our mental health than previously believed, according to new research from Concordia University. A series of studies from the institution have found there may be a link between the recent rise in depression rates and the increase of daily stress.


11/15/10--13:10: Binge-drinking teens may be risking future depression (chan 3146397)

Binge-drinking teenagers may be putting themselves at higher risk in adulthood for mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, Loyola University Health System researchers report.


12/09/10--07:20: Researchers track the impacts of depression during pregnancy (chan 3146397)

The cocktail of hormones cascading through depressed mothers' bodies may play an important role in the development of their unborn children's brains.


01/07/11--04:50: Light therapy promising for treating major depression (chan 3146397)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A small clinical trial in The Netherlands suggests bright light therapy may be a useful treatment for the symptoms of major depression in older adults.


02/02/11--09:50: Physiological impacts of homophobia (chan 3146397)

Young adults who are lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) 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.


02/09/11--09:12: Behavioral problems linked to cortisol levels (chan 3146397)

Cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, seems to behave in contradictory ways in children. Some youngsters with behavioral problems have abnormally high levels of cortisol, while others with identical problems have abnormally low levels. What's going on?


02/16/11--14:06: Regrowing hair: Researchers may have accidentally discovered a solution (chan 3146397)

It has been long known that stress plays a part not just in the graying of hair but in hair loss as well. Over the years, numerous hair-restoration remedies have emerged, ranging from hucksters' "miracle solvents" to legitimate medications such as minoxidil. But even the best of these have shown limited effectiveness.


03/13/11--12:05: Miniature 'wearable' PET scanner ready for use (w/ Video) (chan 3146397)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University, and collaborators have demonstrated the efficacy of a "wearable," portable PET scanner they've developed for rats. The device will give neuroscientists a new tool for simultaneously studying brain function and behavior in fully awake, moving animals.


03/22/11--07:48: Hippocampal volume and resilience in posttramatic stress disorder (chan 3146397)

The hippocampus, a brain region implicated in memory and interpreting environmental contexts, has been the focus of a controversy in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).


04/05/11--15:56: Elevated levels of sodium blunt response to stress, study shows (chan 3146397)

All those salty snacks available at the local tavern might be doing more than increasing your thirst: They could also play a role in suppressing social anxiety.


04/06/11--07:45: Older age memory loss tied to stress hormone receptor in brain (chan 3146397)

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.


04/11/11--11:08: Obesity may shut down circadian clock in the cardiovascular system (chan 3146397)

Obese individuals typically suffer more medical problems than their leaner counterparts. They are more likely to be diagnosed with insulin resistance, diabetes, increased stress hormones, hypothyroidism, and sleep apnea. Researchers at the Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta have also found the potential for something else, using an animal model. They have found that a master clock gene – which regulates the cardiovascular system – does not fluctuate regularly as it does in non-obese animals. This means that a key gene clock of the cardiovascular system does not work properly when obesity is present. The findings are believed to be the first of their kind.


05/26/11--10:58: Stress may increase risk for Alzheimer's disease (chan 3146397)

Stress promotes neuropathological changes that are also seen in Alzheimer's disease. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have discovered that the increased release of stress hormones in rats leads to generation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in the brain and ultimately, memory loss.