Differential Diagnoses and Prognoses of Stress-Induced Metabolic Changes by Stress Hormone Effects – A Synopsis of Our Recent Publications

Abstract

The impact of a given amount of stress hormone upon about 12 different metabolic markers like blood gases, buffers, glucose, lactate and electrolytes shows a comprehensive pattern in a characteristic stress situation, fingerprinting both individual idiosyncrasies and the peculiar qualities of a certain stressful situation. According to HPLC data, norepinephrine correlates linearly and significantly with the mentioned stress hormone effects, underlining the feasibility of taking stress hormone effects for stress-diagnostic purposes rather than catecholamines themselves. Stress hormone effects – especially their correlative relations to each other – can also serve as prognostic tools, whereby effort and even performance in sports can be deduced from anticipatory arousal. Also, need of regeneration after a trial can be calculated from pre-challenge arousal. Even several days after a first parachute jump the personal feeling of success, of having been able to overcome the challenge efficaciously, correlates with the pre-challenge pCO 2 . However, the beneficial values of this “future building capacity”, that enables us to be nearly automatically prepared for future challenges, can be misused by unduly protracting such sympatho-adrenal anticipatory situations due to nonstop submaximal workload. Tissue oxygen depletion in oxygen– demanding situations is one of the resulting noxae. Determination of stress hormone effects furthermore allows educated guesses to distinguish, whether glucose irregularities, e.g. in metabolic syndrome, can be traced back to stressful situations or to the illness proper.