Day 36 - Part 5 Stress series

Dear Reader

Christopher Lord here and I will conclude the 5 part series on stress to educate you and to assist you in your faith journey.  In the previous blog entries, I introduced the father of modern stress research, Dr. Hans Selye, who discovered the physiological underpinning of the human stress response- the “HPA Axis” which stands for the Hypothalamic- Pituitary- Adrenal Axis that also includes the chemical messengers between these structures, chief among them are the stress hormones, with cortisol being the big player I will focus on.

It was also stated that the “HPA Axis” or the stress response wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but rather a helpful/adaptive strategy to temporarily deal with the demands of increased stress.  The problem came when the need to deal with stress wasn’t temporary after all, but constant/near constant demands that lead to a nasty collection of symptoms that could be built into a syndrome called Cushing’s Syndrome which is associated with weight gain/obesity, musculoskeletal and skin problems as well as sex hormone dysfunction and an overall rough time in life.  I did not go into the mental health effects but I plan to now in this final blog entry.

We have long known in my field that there is a link between depression (“Big D” or Major Depression) and dysfunctional HPA Axis (as well as thyroid gland) but our search for a “chemical test” has remained elusive and unfulfilled because the association between HPA Axis/thyroid dysfunction is strong, it is not across the board and therefore not a good medical test.

So what do we know? We know that HPA Axis dysfunction (in most cases related to cortisol levels) is associated with Mood Disorders (which includes things like Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder) as well as Anxiety  Disorders (what matters with these is the rate of change in cortisol levels rather than just a high level). Additionally, there is HPA Axis dysfunction associated with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in which the cortisol response is abnormal, especially in those children who present primarily as hyperactive. HPA dysfunction is also associated with psychotic mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and Major Depression with Psychosis. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (which is technically an Anxiety Disorder) is unsurprisingly associated with abnormalities of cortisol functioning (cortisol levels are actually low- we think that with that population the system actually wears out and other changes happen too). HPA Axis dysfunction is also associated with disruptive behavior in general in young people. Also, and very importantly, HPA Axis dysfunction is also associated with brain damage!

Specifically, chronic stress (in the study I read it was very severe stress) was associated with the loss of brain cells in a part of our brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning, verbal memory, as well as memory storage and retrieval, so much so that people were actually cognitively impaired on neuropsychological testing.

There you have it. By no means have I told you the whole story in terms of the deficits associated with long-term, chronic stress and its impact on your mind and body, there are other chemical messengers and systems involved with other deleterious effects.

Re-reading this material and writing these blog entries has reminded me to work harder at relaxing, and trying where I may to take better care of myself and to thank God

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
-Psalm 139:13-14
 
God’s peace and thank you for the opportunity to be of service

Christopher Lord

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The Purpose Driven Life - Finding Your Purpose


CHAPTER 36 - MADE FOR A MISSION


You were made for a mission.
God is at work in the world, and he wants you to join him. This assignment is called you mission. God wants you to have both a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world.

Your life mission is both shared and specific. One part of it is a responsibility you share with every other Christian, and the other part is an assignment that is unique to you.

THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR MISSION

• Your mission is a continuation of Jesus' mission on earth. 
• Your mission is a wonderful privilege 
• Telling others how they can have eternal life is the greatest thing you can do for them
• Your mission has eternal significance
• Your mission give your life meaning
• God's timetable for history's conclusion is connected to the completion of our commission. 

Point to Ponder: I was made for a mission

Verse to Remember: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

Question to Consider: What fears have kept me from fulfilling the mission God made me to accomplish? What keeps me from telling others the Good News? 

Day 32 - Cortisol and too much stress!

Hello again Reader

Christopher E Lord here and I am continuing the blog series on stress and mental/medical health.  I have introduced you to Hans Selye who pioneered modern stress research by discovering the “stress response”, which is the body’s physiological reaction to increased environmental demands and consists of various chemical messengers originating in our brain and travelling throughout our bodies.  This is referred to the “HPA Axis” or Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis and isn’t necessarily a bad thing by itself, because we need to be able to adapt to stressful demands, but when the HPA Axis doesn’t work correctly (for example, when it is always on); it can have negative medical and mental health consequences.

In this entry, I will focus on the medical consequences of an abnormally functioning HPA Axis.  In the next and final blog entry, I will cover the mental health consequences of an abnormally functioning HPA Axis.

Recall that the HPA Axis consists of a brain structure called the Hypothalamus (which receives information from all over the brain via our sensory system- eyes, ears, smell, etc.) which then communicates with the nearby Pituitary gland (which makes a chemical messenger that is sent outside the brain) to the Adrenal glands (which sit on top of our kidneys) that in turn make chemical messengers that travel all over the body and exert various effects like increasing our heart rates so more blood gets to vital organs  and increasing our blood sugar levels so cells can do more work.  The chemical messengers made by the Adrenal glands are the so-called the “stress hormones” of epinephrine (aka adrenaline) norepinephrine (aka noradrenaline) and cortisol.  Each of these chemical messengers work well and are helpful when they exert their actions temporarily, but that is not the case when they exert their effects over long periods.  There is actually an endocrine disease associated with this, called Cushing’s syndrome (which was discovered 100 years ago by a pioneering neurosurgeon named Harvey Cushing).

Dr. Cushing noted the “syndrome” (which is a medical term meaning a group of symptoms that when seen together suggest a particular disorder) was due to excess exposure to one of the stress hormones (cortisol) which consisted of metabolic problems like rapid weight gain with fat distribution around the midsection (“central obesity” is what we call it) with arms and legs that are usually thin or small by comparison. Additionally, fat may be deposited in unlikely places like the face and upper section of the back.  Also, growth rate can be suppressed as well, which is of course especially applicable to children. Besides these metabolic concerns, excess cortisol can lead to purple-colored stretch marks on the skin around abdomen, thigh, breasts and buttocks, with additional skin thinning, which therefore becomes easily bruised or torn. It doesn’t stop there folks.  Excess cortisol (from the HPA Axis/stress response that is chronically “on”) can also lead to musculoskeletal problems like low back pain (even without exertion) plus bone pain, diminished bone strength therefore more fractures and decreased muscle mass.  Lucky women who have this problem may experience what we call “hirsutism” which is excess hair growth everywhere you don’t want it- face, neck, chest, abdomen and thighs.  Even more significant, excess cortisol may disrupt the menstruation cycle or even stop it all together, which of course leads to fertility problems.

I’m not going to leave out the men either. Besides all the general things listed above, men may also experience decreased libido/sex drive and impotence.

This list reads like a horror story and/or the long list of side effects/disclaimers in a drug company advertisement.  Because cortisol is a “medicine” of sorts (it is just manufactured inside of us with no prescription needed) and because its effects are far-reaching throughout the body, we might well consider these side effects as symptoms that build into a syndrome associated with too much stress.

I did not address the mental health aspects of this, but will in the final blog entry in this series.

God’s peace (and less cortisol if you have enough already)

Christopher E Lord

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The Purpose Driven Life - Finding Your Purpose


CHAPTER 32 - USING WHAT GOD GAVE YOU


God deserves your best.

He shaped you for a purpose, and he expects you to make the most of what you have been given. He doesn't want you to worry about or covet abilities you don't have. Instead he wants you to focus on talents he has given you to use.

Discover Your Shape

•  Begin by assessing your gifts and abilities 
• Consider your heart and your personality
• Examine your experiences and extract lessons you have learned. 

Accept and Enjoy Your Shape

Keep Developing Your Shape

In heaven we are going to serve God forever. Right now, we can prepare for that eternal service by practicing on earth. We're getting ready for eternal responsibilities and rewards. 

Point to Ponder: God deserves my best

Verse to Remember: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

Question to Consider: How can I make the best use of what God as given me? 

Day 25 - CLASS TONIGHT! 6PM CLC FORUM

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT...

OVERCOMING STRESS?

In today's world it is virtually impossible to avoid stress. Almost everyone is carrying some amount of it, in varying degrees. Many find it increasingly difficult to simply survive in the world we live in. In desperation, people are seeking relief for their problems through any remedy they can find. Our culture is inundated with self-help books, therapists, time-management workshops, massage parlors, and recovery programs (to name just the tip of the iceberg). Everyone talks about returning to a "simpler" way of life, but no one seems to even know exactly what that means, or how to attain it. Many of us cry out like Job, "The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me." (Job 30:27).

Most of us are so used to carrying the burden of stress, we can scarcely imagine our lives without it. We think it is simply an unavoidable part of living in the world. We carry it like a hiker trudging out of the Grand Canyon with a huge pack on his back. The pack seems to be a part of his own weight, and he can't even remember what it was ever like to not be carrying it. It seems that his legs have always been that heavy and his back has always ached under all that weight. Only when he stops to rest for a moment and takes off his pack does he realize just how heavy it really is, and how light and free he is without it.

Unfortunately, most of us cannot just unload stress like a backpack. It seems to be intrinsically woven into the very fabric of our lives. It lurks somewhere beneath our skin (usually in a knot between our shoulderblades). It keeps us up late into the night, just when we need sleep the most. It presses in on us from all sides. Yet, Jesus says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mt. 11:28-30). Those words have touched the hearts of many, yet they are only words that merely sound comforting and are in essence, worthless, unless they are true. If they are true, how can we apply them to our lives and walk free from the burdens that weigh us down so badly? Perhaps you are responding, "I would love do that if only I knew how!" How can we receive rest for our souls? (to read more go to http://www.bible.com/bibleanswers_result.php?id=127)

FIND OUT HOW TO REDUCE YOUR STRESS LEVELS!

TONIGHT @ 6PM CLC FORUM

SEE YOU THERE!

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The Purpose Driven Life - Finding Your Purpose


CHAPTER 25 - TRANSFORMED BY TROUBLE


God has a purpose behind every problem.
He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible. The reason is obvious: You face circumstances twenty-four hours a day.

No one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering, and no one gets to skate through life problem-free. Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God's growth process for you.

Point to Ponder: There is a purpose behind every problem.

Verse to Remember: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Question to Consider: What problem in my life has caused the greatest growth in me?

Day 20 - Halfway there!

Day 20! You are halfway to your goal of 40 days! It's time to reflect on how your first 20 days went. What positive changes have you made? What results have you seen? Where can improvements be made? What challenges did you face in the first 20 days? What challenges lie ahead? 

How will you be successful in the last 20 days? 

If you haven't committed yet, now is the time. It's time to jump ALL IN, not just get your feet wet. If you need help reach out to your leaders, we are here for you! If you don't know who you need to contact for what, send me an email and I will direct you: drdaveschwartz@gmail.com

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Blog Entry 3 Stress

Hello Reader

Christopher Lord here and again I am here to continue my series on stress and the human body, specifically how stress negatively impacts body and mind.

In the first entry, I introduced you the pioneer of modern stress research, Dr. Hans Selye. In the second entry, I described one of his greatest contributions- the discovery of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (aka HPA Axis) which is the network of glands in our bodies that release the hormones in response to stress, the so-called “stress hormones” (adrenalin, noradrenaline and cortisol) which help us in the short term but do not help us long term, in fact they are associated with harm.

So, let me re-state: the “stress response” is not necessarily a bad thing. There are situations when it is a useful and adaptive measure. Let’s take a modern-day example of how the stress response might be a good thing: exercise! Exercise (even low-impact activity) activates the stress response, to help us.   It goes like this: we begin to move more briskly, our bodies and brains detect something is up, the hypothalamus (in our brain) releases a chemical message (called CRH for short) which then tells a nearby part of our brain (the pituitary) to release a chemical message (this one is called ACTH for short) which travels outside the brain through our blood stream to the adrenal glands on top of our kidneys, telling the adrenal glands to release their chemical messengers: adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, aka the stress hormones. What do they do? What are they for?

Adrenaline and noradrenaline go by other names: epinephrine and norepinephrine, which you may have heard of before. These substances are potentially helpful to us because when they are released into the blood stream by the adrenal glands (where the name “adrenaline” comes from) they travel all over the body and do helpful things like increasing our heart rates (so more blood can be brought to vital organs and muscles, bringing sugar and oxygen for cells to use for fuel and also taking away waste products). These compounds also help open up our airways to get more air in our lungs and bloodstream for the same reasons.  Additionally, adrenaline and noradrenaline (aka epinephrine and norepinephrine) cause certain blood vessels to open up (for examples the ones providing the heart) while at the same time causing other blood vessels to get smaller (taking blood away from the organs they supply, temporarily of course, because for instance there is a greater need for blood in the heart, brain and lungs then say the stomach, small and large intestines during a stressful episode). Also, and very importantly, these “stress hormones” are associated with weight loss because they help stimulate the mobilization of fat we have stored in fat cells, which for some is the most sought after benefit of exercise (and side effect of the “stress response”!)  Moreover, adrenaline and noradrenaline also tell our liver to start breaking up the sugar it has stored away for this stressful time, releasing sugar into the blood stream for our cells to use.

What about cortisol? It is the other stress hormone released from the adrenal glands along with adrenaline and noradrenaline. What is it for?   Like noradrenaline, cortisol affects the amount of sugar (glucose) floating around in our bodies for use by our cells.  Specifically, cortisol tells our bodies to make sugars (glucose) out of things we have handy to restore what we have used due to increased need (like in exercise) and what we have used in response to the effects of the other two stress hormones, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which cause our bodies to use up our glucose supplies.

I haven’t told you the whole story by far with regards to what these stress hormones do for us, for example, noradrenaline (aka norepinephrine) has a lot of activity in our brains, and I will spend a portion of future blog entries talking about that specifically.

In short, I wanted to introduce you to the idea that the “stress response” isn’t actually a terrible thing; it is actually helpful/useful and even adaptive for some stressful situations, like exercise. 

In the next blog entries I will go on to discuss in more detail the not-so-helpful, harmful and even maladaptive side of stress and how that looks for body and mind.

Thank you for reading.

God’s peace.

Christopher E Lord

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The Purpose Driven Life - Finding Your Purpose

CHAPTER 20 - RESTORING BROKEN FELLOWSHIP

Relationships are always worth restoring. 

Because life is all about learning how to love, God wants us to value relationships and make the effort to maintain them instead of discarding them whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or a conflict. 

Steps on How to Restore a Relationship

1. Talk to God before talking to the person

2. Always take the initiative 

3. Sympathize with their feelings

4. Confess your part of the conflict

5. Cooperate as much as possible

6. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution 

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Point to Ponder: Relationships are always worth restoring.

Verse to Remember: "Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody." Romans 12:18 (TEV)

Question to Consider: Who do I need to restore a broken relationship with today?  

Day 14 - How Stress Affects Mind and Body

Hello everyone, Christopher Lord here, and I am continuing my series on stress with an emphasis on how stress affects body and mind.

In the previous entry, I introduced you to Dr. Hans Selye, the father of modern research on stress.  Now I want to introduce you to one of his earliest and best-known contributions, the discovery of the organ systems responsible for the human body’s response to stress, the “Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis”, or “HPA Axis” for short.

It’s a mouthful to be sure, but I hope to make it easily understandable in this entry, and then later dedicate future entries to learning more about the HPA Axis and its’ associations with medical and mental health problems.

Okay, back to Dr. Hans Selye, who was a medical doctor who specialized in endocrinology, which is the branch of medicine concerned with organs (called glands) that make a substance (called a hormone) which is then released into the body where it has an effect somewhere else.  A classic example of a gland is the pancreas, which makes insulin used by all cells of your body to get sugar inside for fuel.

It was Dr. Selye’s hope and wish to discover the mechanism by which the human body dealt with stress, again defined as "any event which may make demands upon the organism, and sets in motion a non-specific bodily response which leads to a variety of temporary or permanent physiological or structural changes".

He did this by studying mice (which are used because they have organ systems a lot like our own) and repeatedly saw that the result of stress to these animals was the build-up of certain glands and hormones, the same hormones in fact, no matter what the stress was.  With a lot more careful work, he was able to see that the final hormone that he gathered was one called “cortisol” and two others “adrenaline” and “noradrenaline”, all of which have come to be called the “stress hormones”.

Back again to this thing called the HPA Axis, which I will write more and more about in future entries.  The “H” in HPA stands for Hypothalamus, which is a gland in our brain that does lots of stuff, via inputs from the eyes, ears, nose and skin it is part of our brain’s response to the environment. The “P” stands for Pituitary, which is another gland in our brain that communicates with the Hypothalamus and the Adrenal gland, which is the “A” in HPA Axis.  The word “Axis” refers to the name we give all the players involved in this system, which has been called the “stress response” or stress cascade”.

Let’s put it all together: we experience “stress” through our senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) which are relayed by whatever sensory organ that perceived it to our brain. One target for that information is the Hypothalamus, who then upon being triggered sends a chemical message (hormone) to the nearby Pituitary gland (also in our brain) who then sends a hormone to the distant Adrenal glands (which sits on top of each of our kidneys) which then responds by releasing chemical messengers- the so-called “stress hormones”- cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which initially produce helpful effects- for example increasing blood flow to certain areas, increasing heart output, allowing extra sugar in the blood stream to be used for this “emergency”- whatever stress our body perceived.

The big deal is this “stress cascade” or “stress response” is not inherently a bad thing, but it’s only for short-term/temporary use, to respond to some crisis, then it’s supposed to turn off and go away until needed again later.

The bad thing (in the form of medical and mental health problems) is when this “stress response” or “stress cascade” is always on, because the “stress hormones” cause high wear and tear to our systems, or as Dr. Selye put it, the stress hormones cause “temporary or permanent physical changes” in us that can be potentially life threatening medical and mental health conditions.

More to come!

Thank you for reading

Christopher E Lord

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The Purpose Driven Life - Finding Your Purpose

 

CHAPTER 14 - WHEN GOD SEEMS DISTANT

God is real, no matter how you feel. 

It is easy to worship God when things are going great in your life -- when he has provided food, friends, family, health, and happy situations. But circumstances are not always pleasant. How do you worship God then? What do you do when God seems a million miles away? 

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.  

How do you praise God when you don't understand what's happening in your life and God is silent?

• Tell God exactly how you feel 
• Focus on who God is -- his unchanging nature
• Trust God to keep his promises.  
• Remember what God has already done for you 

 Point to Ponder: God is real, no matter how I feel.

Verse to Remember: "For God has said, "I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.'". Hebrews 13:5

Question to Consider:   How can I stay focused on God's presence, especially when he feels distant?

Do you praise God in both of these situations?