The adrenal cortical hormones suppress inflammatory processes, healing
processes and the immune system. Various immune cells (white blood cells) cycle
in and out of the spleen and bone marrow for special conditioning and possible
nourishment and instruction. This immune system trafficking follows the cortisol
cycle. High stress levels produce high levels of cortisol in response. When stress
is ongoing cortisol levels may also remain high indefinitely, producing a series of
biochemical, physiological and even anatomical reactions. Cortisol is known to
increase whole body lipolysis, yet chronic hypercortisolemia results in increased fat
mass. Depressed patients who are also hypercortisolemic gain increased visceral fat,
are resistance to insulin, linking major depression and cardiovascular disorders.
The hippocampus is the region of the brain that deciphers and stores emotional
and sense memory. It is the most plastic, changeable and vulnerable region of the
brain. Nerve cell generation in the hippocampus slows down or stops with the
sustained cortisol levels of chronic stress. It also responds to gonadal, thyroid, and
adrenal hormones, which modulate changes in synapse formation and dendritic
structure. The level of cortisol at the cell level controls thyroid hormone production.
Hypothyroidism, reactive hypoglycemia (glucose intolerance) and depressed
immunity are often associated with this condition as well. Long-term exposure to
high cortisol levels may eventually result in such changes as osteoporosis, muscle
weakening and wasting, high blood pressure, increased abdominal fat deposition,
immune dysfunction, steroid-induced diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Another
serious consequence maybe the eventual fatigue and failure of the adrenal glands.
The exhaustion phase of a kundalini awakening needs to be treated as a general
hypofunctional down regulation of all body systems. Repeated and prolonged
stress leads to the depletion of the adrenal glands and other glands and organ
systems. It is the stress response itself that is damaging, because the body spends
so many resources on allostatic adaptation that it causes the economy of the body
to become bankrupt. An under-working Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
is one of the results. Prof. Validimir Dilman described an age-related syndrome
that he named Hyperadaptosis. Hyperadaptosis, or adrenal burnout, results
from cortisol resistance and hypercortisolemia. Hypothalamic cortisol receptors
become progressively less sensitive with age, so cortisol receptor sensitivity in the
hypothalamus determines the biological age of the adaptive homeostat. To recover
from chronic stress response it is necessary to increase receptor sensitivity to
cortisol, thereby lowering cortisol levels and reducing cellular damage. This reduces
loss of brain cells, improves glucose tolerance, reduces body fat and preserves
bone density.
SAMe and Phosphatidylserine increases sensitivity of prolactin and cortisol
receptors resulting in lower levels of circulating hormone. One of the most effective
ways to lower excess cortisol levels is with the nutrient Phosphatidylserine (Ps),
for it is believed to facilitate the repair of the cortisol receptors in the hypothalamus.
Cortisol receptors can become damaged by high cortisol levels, reducing the
ability of the hypothalamus to sense and correct high cortisone levels. Because
Phosphatidylserine helps repair the feedback control apparatus, it is useful in