How Stress Impacts Your Hormones and Your Health
By Nancy A. Palermo, MD Edited by Thrive Carolinas We all know stress isn’t good for us, but understanding exactly how it affects our hormones may be the wake-up call we need to take it seriously. While stress impacts every system in the body, it’s especially disruptive to your hormonal balance, and that disruption can lead to a cascade of health problems. The Hormonal Stress Response When your body experiences acute stress, it releases adrenaline and noradrenaline hormones that trigger the well-known “fight or flight” response. You may feel a racing heart, increased energy, and sharper alertness. This is helpful short-term, but when stress becomes chronic, these hormones begin to take a toll, increasing anxiety, fatigue, and even straining your heart. At the same time, your body increases production of...
