- acute stress
- short-term bodily disruptions whose signs and symptoms last minutes, hours, or days
- acute stressor
- short-term experience that generally appears suddenly and may cause severe distress, but whose signs and symptoms may last only several minutes, hours, or days
- adaptation
- process of adjusting to the environment as conditions change, either suddenly or over time
- adaptive behavior
- behavior that enables one to decrease distress; may be either positive or negative
- allopathic
- referring to modern Western medicine
- alternative
- referring to health practices that are other methods not generally taught in Western medicine
- antigen
- something that generates an antibody response—hence the term “anti-gen”
- apoptosis
- normal cell death as controlled part of cellular growth and development
- autonomic dysreflexia
- condition seen in patients with spinal cord injury in which the body tries to rid itself of a stressor that the brain cannot recognize
- autonomic nervous system
- division of the peripheral nervous system that responds automatically to chemicals and hormones in the body through sensory and motor neurons
- autophagy
- death of a cell by self-destruction
- carcinogenic
- cancer causing
- chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS)
- conditions of chronic stress caused by chronic inflammation in the body
- chronic stress
- long-term bodily disruptions whose signs and symptoms last weeks, months, or years
- chronic stressor
- long-term experience; it produces stress signs and symptoms that may last weeks, months, or years
- complementary and alternative medicine
- category of nontraditional medicine that explores other modalities to treat the body for healing and wellness
- coping
- ability to adapt and manage a stressful event
- cortisol
- natural hormone emitted from the adrenal cortex, known as the stress hormone, and related to increases in blood glucose and response to the sympathetic nervous system
- family health
- impact of health and illness upon the entire family that may be experienced by one individual in the family
- General Adaptation Syndrome
- theory by Dr. Hans Seyle of the physical stages the body experiences resulting from stress, including alarm, resistance, and exhaustion
- homeostasis
- state of balance in the body
- hypothalamic-pituitary axis (HPA)
- messages from hormones in the blood (the endocrine component) and the nervous system (the neurological component) pass through the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain
- inflammatory response
- initial response of the body to fight against pathogens or insults to the body, beginning with vasodilation to increase oxygen, blood, and antibodies to the area of injury
- integrative medicine
- modalities and practices that are used with modern medicine
- local adaptation syndrome
- localized version of the inflammatory response to stress
- maladaptive behavior
- negative behavior performed to decrease distress
- maladaptive coping
- use of strategies to decrease stress that result in other negative outcomes
- negative feedback
- process of communication within the body to decrease an outcome of the body
- negative stress
- stressful event that produces unhealthful outcomes for the body, such as illness or disease; also causes distress
- parasympathetic nervous system
- one of the two divisions of the autonomic nervous system (aka, the “feed and breed” response); this system prepares the body to rest and digest
- physical stress
- involves measurable disruption to the body
- positive feedback
- communication process within the body to increase a desired outcome in the body
- positive stress
- stressful event that produces healthful outcomes for the body, such as stronger muscles or improved cardiovascular function
- psychosocial stress
- mental and emotional response to stress
- rhabdomyolysis
- massive destruction of muscle and resultant increase in byproducts of breakdown in the blood
- stress
- disruption to the body’s usual state
- Stress Adaptation Model
- model of health developed by Hans Seyle in which stress and health are biochemically linked
- Stress Transactional Model
- theory that stress is a transaction and cascade of events that occur in the body in response to a stressor
- stressor
- event or stimulus that activates an individual’s stress response
- sympathetic nervous system
- part of the nervous system that controls many of the body’s automatic functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and perspiration
- systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS)
- serious systemic condition characterized by massive vasodilation, hypotension, tachycardia, and tachypnea, in response to infection and autoimmune disorders or burns.
- telomeres
- distinctive structures at the end of a strand of a chromosome within the cell