Understanding and managing physiological as well environmental stress is a key

component to health and longevity. Throughout the centuries many important theories of emotion
and stress have arisen that targeted the central nervous system as being the most important factor.
Many modern methods of managing stress fail to emphasize the importance of preventative
measures regarding healthy endocrine functionality. There are many high-efficacy and well
documented ways of controlling the bodys response to stress without the use of drugs. Most
modern pharmaceutical drugs synthesized for stress management have no substantive evidence
of long term health benefits and vary extremely from person to person. During the short-term
response to stress the human body depends more on the central nervous system to maintain a
stable internal environment, and the endocrine system while under long term exposure. From
mental tension, to temperature changes and physical trauma these systems have been conserved
through millions of years of evolutionary extinction and success. The endocrine system, through
hormones, is just as important for responding to stress as the nervous system responses are.
Hormones regulate a systems functionality including the functionality of the immune system,
nervous system, digestive system, and cardiovascular system. Stress as a physiological
mechanism could be defined as a change in the environment or within an organism that
motivates a change in the metabolic needs of that organism to increase its survivability.
Production of the chemicals that allow for homeostasis during stress, can occur at the wrong time
and may lead to disorders like chronic depression and generalized anxiety disorder which may
eliminate years from a life based on severity. This information may be relevant to a public
concerned about depression and anxiety because it explains the biological processes during stress
and can be applied to handle long term or short term exposure to stress with least damage to the
body and maximum happiness. Examining the endocrine system through a variety of different

lenses will help gauge the importance of each step-in learning how to manage the endocrine
system.
The importance of the endocrine system can be observed independent of humans
and through the eyes of a zoologist. The evolution of stress is important to finding out how stress
has functioned in other environments and organisms to recognize commonalities and patterns to
make predictions as to how certain chemicals function in humans. Nearly 650 million years ago,
after marine water sponges diverged into new and complex organisms the ability to respond
directly to environmental stimuli became present within animals. Sponges can live in fresh water,
however most reside at the ocean floor in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and seldom move.
Sponges only exist without an endocrine system because of the simplicity of the organisms life
and static environment. The jellyfish known as Cnidaria medusa is one of the first animals to
have a nervous system and the cells required to diverge into an endocrine system. The nervous
tissue in this jellyfish is so rudimentary and uncoordinated in comparison to the human
centralized version, it is known as a nerve net. Nerve nets are decentralized with no brain and are
unable to locate the source of stimuli and have lesser understandings of them otherwise. While
the jellyfish have been quiet prosperous creatures, Cnidaria medusa is not known for being
aggressive or capable of causing large scale shifts in its ecosystems because a nervous system is
much less capable of responding to stress when it is without an endocrine system and
decentralized. One of the first vertebrae known as a hagfish is capable of existing in a much
wider array of temperatures and pH levels, as well as managing physical trauma better than the
first invertebrates. The formation of a brain and endocrine glands capable of communicating with
other endocrine glands (tropic hormones) within the hagfish have allowed to for long term
control over the way cells function. The fish developed corticosteroids which have helped it

control its metabolism of fat and thus increased its fat management. Another important
mechanism of the endocrine system found in almost all vertebraes is the use of glucocorticoids
that manage blood electrolyte levels and inflammation which is essential for first line of defense
responses to trauma.

While humans and jellyfish are incredibly different creatures, some of the hormones
found in them have been so useful humans still produce our own versions of them. Because our
nervous system is able associate the sensation of emotion to abstract thoughts and ideas we can
manipulate those thoughts to heighten our anxiety through those emotions. This works the same
in reverse allowing humans to use stress in the right time such as during a workout where
allocation of energy to muscles is useful. The epithelial cells that give rise to the human
endocrine system have evolved in humans to form many new glands such as the pancreas,
thyroid, adrenal, and more. However, constantly having thoughts and ideas that are associated
with negative emotions, such as the inevitable mortality we all face, can overuse these
neurotransmitters to affect the endocrine system which is how disorders are formed. According
to Jon Hayward (2013) because mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids manage; blood glucose
levels, blood electrolyte levels, breaking down of fat, and metabolism of carbohydrates, long
term exposure to these endocrine stressors results in diseases like hyperglycemia, high blood
pressure, fatigue, lethargy, rapid weight loss or weight gain, and can even dramatically increase
the risk of cancers such as breast cancer (p. 143). If such a state persists in a human, it can affect
the nervous system to the point where a person can lose their appetite, become obese, have
chronic migraines, lose hair, have suicidal thoughts and much more. In the reverse these
chemicals are steroids and can be found in drugs that cause accelerated muscle growth,

cardiovascular strength, Immune system boosts and medicines, as well as much more, (Embrace
Stress Its Good For You, 2015). These newly evolved glands that were once specialized for a
lesser number of tasks designed to suit a less complex organism can now effect the human body
in a multitude in strange beneficial and harmful ways
While stress can be managed through the nervous system through drugs, meditation, and
abstract realizations it is most effective to modulate human stress levels through exercising
regularly and having a healthy diet. Both of these steps are key in healthy endocrine systems. Not
regularly exercising causes the bloody supply to the muscles and bones to retract and move away
from them as they do not require as much. Not exercising also means the bones become weaker,
the immune system gets compromised more easily, and the nervous system follows suit. Creating
a stable level of glucocorticoids in humans is dependent on the specific body and is different for
each person. Nonetheless, having that stable level and a strong cardiovascular system to deliver it
is important because it helps the body gauge extremes and outliers in stress as to prevent and also
to resolve stress more easily while its initial state is occurring. Diet is also important in
maintaining endocrine health as eating too much fructose or high fructose corn syrup will cause
hyperglycemia and could damage the pancreas and other endocrine organs within the human
body. Endocrine glands have even shown to control catecholamine release (Adrenal Glands,
2015). According to Becker, D.E.(2013), in extreme cases of certain disorders or diseases,
pharmaceutical drugs like anti-depressants, anti-inflammatories, and insulin may be a necessary
measure used to cope with a present stimulus (p.25-32).
While most doctors will recommend a change in diet as well as physical exercise, the
diagnosing of a patient seems to be biased very often. Anxiety disorders and depression related
disorders have skyrocketed in recent years in most modern 1st world countries. Because of crises

like the obesity epidemic, anti-biotic resistant microbes, and a rapidly changing environment
very unlike the one most of life has existed in, the factors that cause more long term exposure to
stress as well as decrease preventative capabilities have increased. Humans are colonizing
increasingly different environments from cold regions where we could not exist before like
Northern Canada and Russia to hotter temperatures near the equator and engaging in mentally
abstract concepts like networking through computer software, participating in social and pollical
trends, and confusing paperwork like taxes. Because of the increase in medical and entertainment
related comfort both have worked together to create rapid changes in our environment, thoughts,
and physiology. A person may step to the cold outside of a city store and see television ads about
Black Friday shopping and saving money because the average person contemplates their
financial stability a lot. The person may enter their preheated car and drive to a fast food
restaurant to consume high fat, high sugar, and high sodium foods. From temperature changes, to
mental tension, and physical trauma our world has changed incredibly in the last century in terms
of stress and our environment. The use of new technologies have given insight that explains why
only targeting one system in the body is futile and that managing stress requires a dedication to
achieving a healthy body.

Hayward, J. (2013). Hormones and Breast Cancer: An Account of 15 Years Study. London,
England: William Heinemann Medical Books Ltd.

(2015, June 19). Embrace stress - it's good for you. BBC Capital, p1

Becker, D. E. (2013). Basic and Clinical Pharmacology of Glucocorticosteroids. Anesthesia

Progress, 60(1), 25-32. doi:10.2344/0003-3006-60.1.25

Society for Endocrinology. (2015, January 15). You and Your Hormones. Whitehead, S. Foster, P.
Gittoes, N. Evans, J. Ramsden, R. Stead, T., Adrenal Glands (pp. 1). Societys Public
Engagement Committee.