User:LundyLoo/Allostatic load

Implications of allostatic load on health
Biological implications of allostatic load include impacts on both cognitive and physical functioning, with the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala being regions that may be specifically impacted by it.

Definition
When the cumulation of stressful experiences leads to chronic exposure to fluctuations in neural or neuroendocrine responses, which surpass the individual's coping ability, the result is considered to be an allostatic load. Causing factors of allostatic load include the following: continual physiological arousal due to chronic stress, inadequate coping mechanisms, stress response continuing past the completion of a stressor, and an insufficient allostatic response to a stressor.

A typical allostatic response has been initiated by a stressor and then continues for the duration of the stressor, in which it shuts off as the stressor has ended. Allostatic load is the accumulation of stressors and maladaptive responses that may result in an extreme state, where the stress response does not terminate.

Causes of allostatic load
The long-term impact of childhood adversity (e.g., abuse, neglect) has been shown to have lasting effects, including the increased risk for allostatic load in adulthood. Regardless of the type, an association between discrimination and allostatic load in adulthood has been found. Health risk behaviors, such as poor eating habits and obesity, physical inactivity, substance use, and sleep deprivation are also considered to be risk factors of allostatic load.

Extended activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), as well as the autonomic nervous system, can lead to negative impacts on biological health. Similarly, when the structural remodeling (e.g., cellular and molecular processes from the nucleus of a cell to the surface of a cell) of neural architecture, which is a key result of stress, continues past the termination of a stressor, the body is no longer maintaining a status of homeostasis and the extended stress response has negative implications.

The human body regulates itself to maintain a status of homeostasis by utilizing allostatic mechanisms, but when there are extended stress responses that continue past the duration of the stressor's termination, it leads to the failure of these systems.