Stress - Testosterone

We all joke around about being under stress, but, as you'll see below, it's really not that funny. There are many definitions of stress, but here I am primarily talking about the kind of stress that produces elevated cortisol levels. When you are under stress, your body releases increased levels of adrenaline and other "fight or flight" hormones and chemicals.  The adrenaline does a certain amount of damage, raising pulse rates and blood pressure (especially in Type A personalities).  But it is the cortisol that comes shortly after that does the most devastating long term damage.

Many people have trouble understanding what really causes stress and elevated cortisol levels.  Yes, a death in the family, a divorce - those things can cause stress.  But it is really your reaction to these events that produces what I will call "true stress", i.e. elevated cortisol levels. 

Testosterone

Let's start with one counterintuitive example: depression.  You would expect that depression would actually mute or numb any hormonal response, right?  But it's actually quite the opposite.  One study found that the cortisol levels of the depressed individuals was 68% higher than those without depression. [1]  That same study found that testosterone, both nighttime and 24-hour, were significantly lower in these individuals and were negatively correlated with cortisol levels.  To put it directly:  the higher the cortisol, the lower the testosterone.

So how does stress lower testosterone?  Most of the research in this area was done through Population Council endocrinologist Matthew Hardy and his work on rats.  He and his teams found out how stress lowers your testosterone:  through a tricky little enzyme called 11ßHSD-1. [8] Your body produces most of its testosterone in the "Leydig Cells" and this enzyme keeps cortisol, the primary stress hormone, from pushing down your testosterone.  It literally puts the brakes on cortisol from destroying your testosterone.  However, in times of stress, there is simply too much coristol versus 11ßHSD-1 and this leads to a decrease in your testosterone production.  Of course, anything that lowers testosterone is bad for fertility.

Stress - Brain and Memory

One thing I emphasize on this site is that Low Testosterone will kill you over time.  But high cortisol levels, which generally results from increased stress levels of various types, do much more rapid damage to something else important to you:  your  brain cells and neurons.  Scientists first noticed this in various animal experiments where animals put under severe stress had not only a decrease in synapses but also an atrophy of their dendrites.  Neuronal cell death often occurred as well.  In other words, every part of their brain was vulnerable to destruction: both the "cpu" and the "network" if you will.

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Then neurologists noticed that a variety of orders that raise resting cortisol levels left thier victims with partially destroyed hippocampuses.  (The hippocampus is the key part of the brain associated with memory.)  For example, one study of Vietnam Vets with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder found that on average about 10% of the hippocampus had been destroyed. [2]  Other studies have shown up to 26% damage! 

You might not guess that depression would be stressful, but it is extremely so.  Depression raises cortisol and kills the brain while it's at it. (Around half of all people with major depression have significantly elevated cortisol levels.  And it goes both ways:  there is some overlap, i.e. stress can cause depression.  One study found that "stress is a more important predictor of depression in the elderly than are genetic factors.".) [3] In 1999 researchers examined 48 women to find exactly how depression effects the brain and found that women who had experienced depression has a 9-13% greater average shrinkage of the hippocampus. [4]  Furthermore, they found that the more depressive episodes the greater the shrinkage of the hippocampus. In other words, the longer the cortisol levels are elevated by depression, the more the damage.  And, more importantly, the damage is enduring and long-lasting.

The bottom line is that if you are depressed, get help and get treatment.  Your brain depends on it.  The longer you ignore the problem, the more neurons are destroyed.  Have you lost your zest for life?  Do you have the classic signs of depression?  If so, then get tested and get help.

Sleep is another counterintuitive stressor of the body.  Lack of sleep can raise morning cortisol levels and that's the last thing your brain and body needs.  So remember that stress isn't just the typical "I'm stuck in traffic and late for a meeting" situation.  Many counterintuitive things in life can lead to elevated stress hormone levels and take your memory and cognition with it.

Stress - Heart and Erectile Dysfunction

There have been many studies showing that stress leads to heart disease [10] and we all know that heart disease will directly affect your erectile strength.  How does stress do its damage?  One set of researchers have looked into this and the primary two factors were poor behaviors, such as smoking, excessive drinking and lack of exercise, and Metabolic Syndrome. [11] Metabolic Syndrome is deadly to your heart and penis as you know.

In addition, researchers recently found out that chronic psychological stress resulted in greater weight gain, especially in sensitive individuals. [12]  The reason?  The study authors noted that stressed people eat excessivly whether hungry or not.  The old expression "comfort food" is apparently a very real crutch that most lean on.

Researchers are also now examining the hormone connection as well.  The first study I mentioned above found that morning cortisol levels were raised in "stressed out" individuals.  And, recently, another study found that stress (in monkeys) led to increased abdominal fat, i.e. a "spare tire". [9]  This study was, admittedly, on female monkeys and the problem was that stress decrease the hormone output from the ovaries thus causing the abdomina weight gain.  (Abdominal fat is the most deadly form of body fat, as opposed to fat on the hips and butt, and leads to heart disease.) 

Of course, the best way to reduce stress is to get rid of the attitudes and lifestyle problems that are causing the stress in the first place.   Please read my link on Practical Stress Management Solutions for practical solutions to lowering stress and cortisol.

CAUTION:  It looks like a little stress may be a good thing. Researchers have found that mild stress resulting from an "enriched social, physical and mental environment" ends up decreasing leptin levels. [13]  Leptin was once considered a "good boy" hormone, because it decreases appetite and has other positive effects.  However, leptin also causes cancer to thrive and grow and was linked to increased risk of colon and skin cancer.

REFERENCES:

1) Psychosomatic Med,1999, 61:292-296

2) Psychiatry Res: Neuroimaging,2003,(154)2:191-198

3) Semin Clin Neuropsychiatry,2001 Jan,6(1):27-31

4) J Neurosci,1999,19:5034-5043

5) Int J Sports Med,Oct 2001,22(7):537-43

8) J Androl, 1997, 18:475-4791997, 18:475-479

9) Obesity (Silver Spring), 2009 Aug, 17(8):1513-20. Epub 2009 Mar 26, "Social stress, visceral obesity, and coronary artery atherosclerosis in female primates"

10) BMJ 2002, 325:857, "Work stress and risk of cardiovascular mortality: prospective cohort study of industrial employees"

11) European Heart Journal, Advance Access published online on January 23, 2008, "Work stress and coronary heart disease: what are the mechanisms?", Received 1 August 2007; revised 14 November 2007; accepted 22 November 2007.

12) Obesity, 2008, 17(1):72–77, "Acute Stress-related Changes in Eating in the Absence of Hunger"

13) "Stress of An Enriched Environment Might Curb Cancer Growth", eScienceNews, 7/8/2010