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Just
Thinking About
Work May Trigger Stress
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - While on-the-job stress is a well known
and widely felt presence, new research suggests that even thinking
about Monday morning may send people's stress hormones upward.
In a study
of 75 men and women, UK researchers found that the participants
showed steeper increases in the stress hormone cortisol on workday
mornings than on days off. Since this rise occurred within 30
minutes of waking up, the mere ``anticipation'' of work may trigger
job-related stress, according to Dr. Andrew Steptoe and his colleagues
at University College London.
Steptoe presented
his team's findings last week in Monterey, California, at the
annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.
Cortisol levels
naturally wax and wane over the course of a day, peaking in the
morning and declining through the afternoon and morning. The hormone
plays a key role in regulating metabolism, blood pressure and
cardiovascular function, and it suppresses immune system activity.
Cortisol also helps the body respond to stress, mobilizing the
body and preparing it for vigorous activity.
But excessive
cortisol levels are believed to wear on the heart, brain, metabolism
and other bodily functions. That is why it is important to study
the effects of everyday stress on cortisol concentrations, Steptoe
told Reuters Health.
In the study,
he and his colleagues measured cortisol levels in the participants'
saliva. Samples were taken immediately upon waking, 30 minutes
after waking, and then every 2 hours until late evening. Regardless
of the day, the participants' cortisol levels were highest in
the morning. However, the sharpest increase occurred 30 minutes
after waking on workdays.
What was most
interesting in these findings, Steptoe said, was that cortisol
levels during the rest of the workday were similar to those on
days off. Earlier research, he noted, has shown similar results,
with some evidence suggesting the early-morning increase in cortisol
is greatest among people with high job stress.
``The cortisol
rise,'' Steptoe said, ``may be a biological marker of our preparation
for the working day, and for the demands we are about to confront."
Reference
Source 89
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