Introduction
Human life expectancy has continuously increased in the past two centuries, closing in global aging. Multiple losses, such as financial, psychological, personal, health-related, and loss of autonomy, cognition, and functionality, have contributed to the anxiety that comes with advancing years. The cybernetic theory of stress, coping, and well-being holds that stress is a difference between an individual’s perceived and desired conditions, which is especially crucial for aging adults. At the age of 70, the same elements that induce negative aging create negative personality changes due to bad habits, terrible marriages, maladaptive defenses, and sickness. The paper focuses on providing research about the Physiology of stress and its impacts on the process of aging.
Stress and Adversity in Aging
Adversity is a part of life for everyone, and it can harm one’s health and well-being. There is a lot of variation in the trajectory of health and function in old age. In the context of aging, stresses include chronic illnesses, cognitive impairment, the psychological stress of caregiving, independence, and money (Liguori et al., 2018). Adversities affect people in a variety of ways. Some get depressed and even die young due to hardships, while others manage to overcome them and live a life of personal fulfillment (Wimalawansa, 2019). Chronically ill patients, bereaved spouses, and family dementia carers have all been considered to have severe stress exposure that generates mental illness in older adults.
Physiology of Stress and Its Effects on the Aging Process
Because of weakened resistance to stress, aging physiologically alters a person’s response to it. Ferrucci et al. (2020) affirm that an accumulation of everyday and significant life stressors that relate with a person’s genetic composition and influencing early life experiences can be regarded as the source of individual variances in the aging process. Allostasis was the initial name given to the process by which the core environment changes to encounter the perceived and expected demand in the adaptive biological response to critical stress (Liguori et al., 2018). The idea of a “set point” that fluctuates due to the body’s attempt to maintain homeostasis has been added to this term through research. Allostasis, which means maintaining stability during change, is mediated by the neuroendocrine system, the autonomic nerve system, and the immunological system (Wimalawansa, 2019). The endocrine, autonomic, and immunological systems can all be affected by the aging process, leading to a loss of homeostasis.
Liguori et al. (2018) found a link between higher levels of cumulative stress and biological markers, including insulin resistance and hastened aging as measured by Grim Age. It further showed that emotional regulation lowered the impact of stress on accelerated aging, and self-control was found to mitigate the association between pressure and insulin resistance. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is well-known for its harmful impact on the neuroendocrine function when experienced acutely. Glucocorticoids such as cortisol are released when this feedback loop is activated, allowing the body to function at a higher level of alertness (Liguori et al., 2018). Animals need to have the HPA response to stress to survive. However, high amounts of glucocorticoids can cause hypertension, depress anabolic processes, and even hippocampus atrophy if they remain elevated for an extended time. In both normal and pathological aging, the volume of the hippocampus decreases.
Sex differences may have a role in how stress affects people. Ferrucci et al., (2020). Argues that women have double chances compared to males to suffer from emotional disorders in the years following puberty and before menopause. Age 55 appears to bring this disparity to a close. Estradiol, the primary gonadal steroid, is one of the strongest contenders for a role in this gender difference (Wimalawansa, 2019). Women who have never experienced mood swings before perimenopause begin to experience them due to changes in estrogen levels, and this link has been established conclusively. Depression and female suicide attempts have been linked to greater estrogen levels during the menstrual cycle.
Stress hormones, including cortisol, may interact with the estrogenic effects on cognition. Cortisol is the quintessential stress hormone in response to psychological and social stress. Ferrucci et al. (2020) argue that older women tend to have higher levels than younger ones. Cortisol levels in the elderly are connected with increased psychosocial stress, decreased cognitive performance, and the atrophy of memory-related regions in the brain, such as the hippocampus (Liguori et al., 2018). Because of the harmful effects of stress hormones on cognitive performance in normal aging, elevated estradiol levels may be frustrating and have peptide levels and ratios. It is critical to preserving neuronal integrity and overall health in the brain. Wimalawansa (2019) argues that cortisol’s effects on the brain circuits essential for cognitive function and mood regulation have yet to be fully understood in psychosocial stress.
Conclusion
Their close relationship broadly researched stress, inflammation, sex hormones, and aging. Assessment of the biological factors that influence anxiety and resilience might assist in identifying possible neurobiological systems as targets for intervention to improve flexibility at both individual and community levels. Stress responsiveness and stability may be influenced by various factors, including neuroendocrine, immunological, brain circuitry, genetic, temperamental, and environmental variables. New preventative treatments are being tested and implemented in research and community care in stress and aging. It has become an essential resource for disseminating information about the dangers and benefits of depressive and cognitive illnesses at an old age.
References
Ferrucci, L., Gonzalez-Freire, M., Fabbri, E., Simonsick, E., Tanaka, T., Moore, Z., Salimi, S., Sierra, F., & de Cabo, R. (2020). Measuring biological aging in humans: A quest. Aging cell, 19(2), e13080. Web.
Liguori, I., Russo, G., Curcio, F., Bulli, G., Aran, L., Della-Morte, D., Gargiulo, F., Bulli, G., Testa, G., Caccaiatore, F., Bonaduce, D., & Abete, P. (2018). Oxidative stress, aging, and diseases. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 13, 757.
Wimalawansa, S. J. (2019). Vitamin D deficiency: Effects on oxidative stress, epigenetics, gene regulation, and aging. Biology, 8(2), 30.