Allostasis and allostatic load/Bibliography

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Books

• McEwen BS, Lasley EN. (2002) The end of stress as we know it. Washington, D.C: Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 0309076404.

• The National Academy Press
• Book description: There's a whole new way to think about stress. Sure, some stress is inevitable, but being "stressed out" isn't. In fact, we can learn to rechannel the powerful stress activators in our lives to make us even more effective....Hamlet spoke of "suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." These days we simply use the word "stress" to describe that feeling. And if you ask 10 random people if they feel stressed, chances are that at least 9 will reply with a resounding, "Yes!" Indeed, the very way we use the word implies that we are its victims as in, "I'm under so much stress" or "I'm completely stressed out." There s now a better way to look at this picture, a way to move from victim to victor. The first step is to look to the science behind it all because in the science lies a whole new message about stress. Science allows us to understand what the stress response is and why our bodies react the way they do. Like all living creatures, we're mapped to respond instinctually in certain ways, and generally for good reasons. We know, for example, that in times of emergency, we effortlessly shift into a different biological mode. Based on our perception of the crisis, our brains initiate the "stress response" or the "flight-or-fight reaction." Our attention becomes keenly focused. Our heart and lungs accelerate to ready us for action. Our glands mobilize extra energy resources and summon the immune system to battle stations. This whole process is Nature's way of empowering us to respond swiftly, sometimes dramatically, to sudden events, while remaining mentally alert and physically prepared to meet a challenge....But what if the crisis situation does not present us with a foe to be fought? Or if fleeing is not the answer? Too often in modern times, the situations that bring on the stress response require neither the fight nor flight response for which our bodies are genetically programmed. The stress response is nevertheless likely to kick in just as it's programmed to do even though it cannot help speed us toward a resolution. Deprived of its natural successful result, the very system that s designed to protect us begins to cause wear and tear on our bodies actually bringing on illnesses as diverse and severe as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, ulcers, and increased susceptibility to colds and infections....The good news is that there are definite things that we can do to prevent this process from ultimately taking this wrong turn. New research in brain functioning allows us to understand the reactions our bodies have to various stressful circumstances. That knowledge is power the power to harness the energy stored within us and to channel it in positive ways. The End of Stress as We Know It leads us to a new appreciation of the mind body nnection so that we learn how to reduce stress and increase our overall sense of health and well-being and even turn aside the slings and arrows of life.

• Schulkin J. (2003) Rethinking homeostasis: allostatic regulation in physiology and pathophysiology. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. ISBN 0262194805.

• MIT CogNet: The Brain Sciences Connection
• From the book announcement website: Homeostasis, a key concept in biology, refers to the tendency toward stability in the various bodily states that make up the internal environment. Examples include temperature regulation and oxygen consumption. The body's needs, however, do not remain constant. When an organism is under stress, the central nervous system works with the endocrine system to use resources to maintain the overall viability of the organism. The process accelerates the various systems' defenses of bodily viability, but can violate short-term homeostasis. This allostatic regulation highlights our ability to anticipate, adapt to, and cope with impending future events....In Rethinking Homeostasis, Jay Schulkin defines and explores many aspects of allostasis, including the wear and tear on tissues and accelerated pathophysiology caused by allostatic overload. Focusing on the concept of motivation and its relationship to the central nervous system function and specific hormonal systems, he applies a neuroendocrine perspective to central motive states such as cravings for water, sodium, food, sex, and drugs. He examines in detail the bodily consequences of the behavioral and neuroendocrine regulation of fear and adversity, the endocrine regulation of normal and preterm birth, and the effects of drug addiction on the body. Schulkin's presentation of allostasis lays the foundation for further study.
• Table of Contents: Preface; Introduction; Allostasis: The Emergence of a Concept; Central Motive States: Feedforward Neuroendocrine Systems in the Brain; Anticipation, Angst, Allostatic Regulation: Adrenal Steroid Regulation of Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; Normal and Pathological Facilitation of Parturition by a Feedforward Endocrine Mechanism; Addiction to Drugs: Allostatic Regulation under Duress; Conclusion; References; Name Index; Subject Index.

• International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Congress, (34th et al.) (2004) Biobehavioral stress response: protective and damaging effects. New York, N.Y: New York Academy of Sciences.
• McEwen BS. (2004) The end of stress as we know it. Washington, D.C: Joseph Henry Press.
• Schnurr PP, Green BL. (2004) Trauma and health: physical health consequences of exposure to extreme stress. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Schulkin J. (2004) Allostasis, homeostasis and the costs of physiological adaptation. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Eaton WW. (2006) Medical and psychiatric comorbidity over the course of life. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub.