People look around and feel that the conventional system does not measure up, and that something deeper about their well-being is not being addressed at all.”- Dr Linda Barnes, Boston University School of Medicine

TO this end, people look to Suzanne Somers and Oprah for their medical advice, and trust them more than they do medical professionals.

Why is this so? There are indeed a group of people who are not well. They do not have the disease that is “textbook”, per se, yet, something is definitely wrong.

The group I will focus on are people who lack cortisol because of continuous unrelenting stress.

Some of the symptoms are:

*Depression – no help from anti-depressants

*Hair falling out, sometimes in clumps

*Foggy mind

*Disorganised

*Low energy

*Lack of initiative

*Salt cravings

*Low blood pressure or feeling dizzy when you get up from

a lying or seated position

*Crave caffeine, can’t live without it

*Irritable

*Second wind after supper

Also, do others perceive you as: lazy; mean; don’t care; forgetful; unconvincing; always snacking; gaining weight; lack willpower; disorganised?

Adrenal fatigue was first described in 1898, and the medical professionals know it as hypoadrenia, in theory but we almost never diagnose it.

In the United States it may affect 60-80 per cent of adults, and it is likely playing a role in the increase we are seeing in fibromyalgia, depression that still remains unfixed by anti-depressants, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypothyroidism, increased ulcers, and allergies.

We simply were not designed for the levels of constant stress we undergo today.

We were designed for: Wake up at sunrise; see the next meal – go catch it; someone wants to make me their meal, let me run; go to sleep at sunset. Natural disaster is coming – get away from it.

However, our modern stressors are continuous. Alarm clocks, cellphones, illness, pollution, medications, jobs, relatives, children, email, substance abuse, traffic, travelling by plane, rude people, criminal elements, terrorism – and I literally feel my blood pressure rising as I make the list, and this is a short list.

Our adrenals, the little tiny gland on top of the kidneys, react to every stressor the same. It does not distinguish between the spilt milk all over your work clothes as you are going out the door, and the news that a loved one has passed away. We are now living in a time where our physiology is acting much like what happens to a caged animal.

And what does happen to a caged animal? In 1936 studies done by Selye showed sleep disturbances, anxiety, panic, increased weight gain, increased arthritis, ulcers, poor healing and shortened life expectancy in rats. If the rats were allowed to exercise or gnaw on something, then they had fewer of those issues or none.

These medical issues have been accepted by many as life as we age, but in many instances these are the effects of too much cortisol from unmitigated stress. There are, however, ways in which we can mitigate these issues early on before we become a miniature pharmacy with pills for every ailment under the sun.

The root cause of these symptoms is that the adrenal gland simply cannot keep up with making the steroid hormones that are in high demand by the body because of the continuous high levels of stress.

We will explore this further and how to treat it in the upcoming articles.

Dr Simone Van-Horne is a consultant in Internal Medicine. Currently, she is a hospitalist where she does inpatient hospital medicine in Florida and sees patients in a medical spa setting at Metamorphosis Medispa & Wellness Center Inc in Hollywood, Florida, and at The Face Place JA at 3 Carvalho Rd, Kingston. Contact info@spamorph.com and www.spamorph.com for questions.