Likewise, making neighborhoods safer and more congenial and supportive130 can improve opportunities for positive social

interactions and increased recreational physical activity. However, governmental policies are not the only way to reduce allostatic load. For example, businesses that encourage healthy lifestyle practices among their employees are likely to gain reduced health Insurance costs and possibly a more loyal workforce.131-133 Above all, policymakers and business leaders need to be made aware of their broader Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Issues of Improving health and preventing disease and the fact that they make economic sense as well as being “the right thing to do.” Finally, there are programs in existence that combine some of the key elements just described, namely, education, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical physical activity

and social support, along with one other ingredient that is hard to quantify: namely, finding meaning and purpose In life. One such program Is the Experience Corps which takes elderly volunteers and trains them as teachers’ assistants Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical for younger children In the neighborhood schools.134 Not only does this program improve the education of the children, It also benefits the elderly volunteers and Improves their physical and mental health.135 This program has now been adopted as a key part of a political campaign for the governorship of the state of Maryland.136 One can only hope that politicians and business leaders will listen to and heed the advice of science, which often Is reinforcing common sense, In helping to address the pervasive problems of stress In our world. Selected abbreviations and acronyms ACTH acetylcholine Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical BDNF brain-derived neurotrophic factor CRS chronic restraint stress CRF corticotropin-releasing factor CRH corticotropin-releasing hormone NCAM neural cell adhesion molecule
Stress is commonly defined as a state of real or perceived threat to homeostasis. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Maintenance of homeostasls In the presence of averslve stimuli (stressors) requires activation of a complex range of responses involving the endocrine, nervous, and immune systems, collectively known as the stress response.1,2

Activation of the stress response initiates a number of behavioral and physiological changes that improve an individual’s chance of survival when faced with homeostatic Methisazone challenges. Behavioral effects of the stress response include increased awareness, improved cognition, euphoria, and enhanced analgesia.1,3 Physiological adaptations initiated by activation of this system include increased cardiovascular tone, respiratory rate, and intermediate metabolism, along with inhibition of general vegetative functions such as feeding, digestion, growth, reproduction, and immunity.4,5 Due to the wide array of physiologic and potentially pathogenic effects of the stress response, a number of neuronal and endocrine systems function to tightly regulate this see more adaptive process.