During the stage of exhaustion, individuals may begin to suffer depression, the suppression of their immune response, severe fatigue, or even a fatal heart attack. If the stress continues for a longer term however, the body responds with symptoms quite different than the fight-or-flight response. If a person is starving for example, the body may send signals to the gastrointestinal tract to maximize the absorption of nutrients from food. If the stress is not soon relieved, the body adapts to the stress in the second stage called the stage of resistance. The section on the adrenal medulla covers this response in more detail. Once this stress is relieved, the body quickly returns to normal. Their function is to prepare the body for extreme physical exertion. This is short-term stress, the fight-or-flight response, mediated by the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla. Stage one of GAS is called the alarm reaction.
The body responds in different ways to short-term stress and long-term stress following a pattern known as the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). Psychological stresses include the perception of a physical threat, a fight with a loved one, or just a bad day at school. Physical stresses include exposing the body to injury, walking outside in cold and wet conditions without a coat on, or malnutrition. Stress can be either physical or psychological or both. One of the major functions of the adrenal gland is to respond to stress. There is also an inner layer, called the adrenal medulla, which produces non-steroid hormones including adrenaline. There is an outer layer, called the adrenal cortex, which produces steroid hormones including cortisol. \): Each of the two adrenal glands is found above a kidneyĮach adrenal gland has two distinct parts, and each part has a different function, although both parts produce hormones.
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