Adrenal fatigue is simply the allowance of stressors to influence and perhaps take control over your life. Stress is a big issue in most people's lives and all too often the person has no idea how to deal with the stress. The result is adrenal fatigue as well as many other imbalances within the body, mind and spirit of the individual.
Adrenal fatigue can be debilitating and can lead to serious health problems. People suffering adrenal fatigue usually find that they have trouble being active. Weight training becomes difficult, they tire more easily and find that recovery from the exertion takes a lot longer than usual. Besides just not "feeling well," some suffers of adrenal fatigue also experience mild joint and muscle pains, reduced sex drive, bursts of energy in the evening (but tired the rest of the time), an unexplained craving for salt, as well as other symptoms.
It's just what it sounds like: it is what happens when your adrenal glands get over-worked and under-nourished, so they become fatigued. Why are adrenal glands important? Well, these little pea-sized glands that sit atop the kidneys secrete hormones that allow us to deal with immediate and long-term stress. The adrenals secrete over 50 different hormones, including adrenaline, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, and DHEA. You've probably heard of most of these hormones.
Chronic stress. This is a major cause of adrenal fatigue, as while the adrenal glands were meant to deal with acute stress situations, they cannot effectively deal with chronic, prolonged stress. Unfortunately, we live in a society where the majority of people have some type of chronic stress in their life, which over a period of months and years will take its toll on the adrenal glands, resulting in adrenal fatigue.
Adrenal fatigue is a strangely paradoxical health problem. The adrenal glands, which are tiny pea-sized glands that rest atop the kidneys, do a mighty job in the body. They control and regulate more than 50 hormones in the body, and are primarily responsible for our "stress response." When we are under stress, the adrenal glands release hormones like cortisol to help us deal with the stress. As you may know, cortisol controls the strength of the immune system, normalizes blood sugar, and regulates blood pressure, among other things.
The function of the adrenal glands is a complicated science. There are a number of important substances secreted by these pyramid-shaped glands which include aldosterone from the adrenal cortex (which affects body hydration), adrenaline from the adrenal medulla (responsible for energy and alertness). However, most diagnosis of adrenal fatigue centres around the more measurable steroid hormones cortisol and DHEA, produced in the adrenal cortex. These hormones should rise in the morning to wake a person and then progressively fall from mid-afternoon to allow unwinding and sleep.
Although you can't see adrenal fatigue, as there are no visible symptoms, it is a crippling and devastating condition for its sufferers. The fact that it is invisible makes it even harder for sufferers as others may question the individual's symptoms and the validity of the condition itself. Individuals suffering from adrenal fatigue may look and seem healthy but they are feeling like their energy and life is slipping away.
Read about men magazine. Also read about summer destinations and sweet tooth
And also read other articles by Keelin Orla