Texto Hormones

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Section one
One of the most important reasons why men and women react differently to stress
is hormones. Three play a crucial role: cortisol, epinephrine, and oxytocin. When
stress strikes, hormones called cortisol and epinephrine together raise a person's
blood pressure and circulating blood sugar level, and cortisol alone lowers the
effectiveness of the immune system. "People used to think there was a difference in
the amounts of cortisol released during a stressful situation in women," says Robert
Sapolsky, PhD, professor of neurobiology at Stanford University. "The thinking was
women released more of this hormone, and that produced all sorts of nutty theories
about why women are so emotional." But the fact of the matter, explains Sapolsky,
is that there is no consistent difference in cortisol production at all between men and
women. It really all comes down to the hormone called oxytocin. In women, when
cortisol and epinephrine rush through the bloodstream in a stressful situation,
oxytocin comes into play. It is released from then, countering the production of
cortisol and epinephrine, and promoting nurturing and relaxing emotions. While men
also secrete the hormone oxytocin when they're stressed, it's in much smaller
amounts, leaving them on the short end of the stick when it comes to stress and
hormones.
Section two
While most people are familiar with the fight or flight theory (when confronted with
stress, do you stay and fight or turn tail and run? ), there's a new theory in town
tailored just for women. An influential study published in the July 2000 issue of
Psychological Review reported that females were more likely to deal with stress by
"tending and befriending" -- that is, nurturing those around them and reaching out to
others. "Tending involves nurturant activities designed to protect the self and
offspring that promote safety and reduce distress; befriending is the creation and
maintenance of social networks that may aid in this process, write researchers,
including Shelly
E. Taylor, PhD, a distinguished professor in the department of psychology at UCLA.
Why do women tend and befriend instead of fight or flight? The reason, in large part,
is oxytocin combined with female reproductive hormones, explained researchers in
the study. Men, on the other hand, with smaller amounts of oxytocin, lean toward the
tried and true fight or flight response when it comes to stress -- either bottling it up
and escaping, or fighting back.
Section three
"The major sex differences I see have to do with the management of demand and
maintenance of energy," says Carl Pickhardt, PhD, a psychologist and author of The
Everything Parent's Guide to Positive Discipline. "Because male self-esteem is often
built around adequacy of performance, and female self-esteem is often built around
adequacy of relationships, overdemand and insufficient self-maintenance tend to cut
somewhat different ways for women and for men."
A woman, explains Pickhardt, is often at risk of letting other people's needs
determine her limits, while her own needs are ignored. "Self-sacrifice in relationships
is how many women enter stress," says Pickhardt, who is a spokesman for the
American Psychological Association. Men, on the other hand, are often at risk of
letting challenge and competition set the pace. "Men tend to let their rival's efforts or
their employer's agenda set the level of their demand, losing focus on the self to
preoccupation with winning or attaining an extrinsic objective," Pickhardt tells
WebMD. "Achieving a winning performance at all costs is how many men enter
stress." What is the greatest stressor for women and for men? Not surprisingly,
"Relationship loss for women, performance failure for men, are often the greatest
stressors each sex experiences," says Pickhardt.
Section four
When it comes to managing stress, men and women just handle it differently. Take
Amanda Ezmen and Andrew Flynn, for example. Both lead stressful
lives, but both handle it in their own way. "Managing stress is very different by sex,"
Pickhardt tells WebMD. "Women often seek support to talk out the emotional
experience, to process what is happening and what might be done." Whether its
friends, family, or a support group, women like to tell their stories. "Men often seek
an escape activity to get relief from stress, to create a relaxing diversion, to get
away," says Pickhardt. Golfing is a common example of how men escape -- they're
acting out their stressful energy in a challenging way while enjoying the
companionship of other men. They typically, explains Pickhardt, don't take time out
of a round of golf to discuss their feelings or stress amongst each other.
Section five
For both sexes, stress has evolved from the days on the savannah when we were
running for our lives. Now, it's mortgage payments and childcare that keep us up
night after night. "The single most important point to make is that stress has evolved
from dealing with a single short-term crisis to the ability to turn stress on in a chronic
way," says Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers.
Unfortunately, because the hormonal result of stress is increased blood pressure
and circulating blood sugar levels, and a less-effective immune system, chronic
stress can lead to serious health problems. "Men and women need to find ways to
deal with chronic stress. This is not what the body has evolved for, and it can
increase a person's risk of everything from heart disease to metabolic disorders to
impaired wound healing," Sapolsky tells WebMD.

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