The symptoms described correspond to the affectation of a) adrenal glands and/or b) thyroid gland and/or c) the pituitary gland (anterior region) and/or d) all the previous ones.
The adrenal glands, are two small organs of 3 x 3 cm approximately, consisting of cortex and medulla, located above both kidneys and are responsible among other things for the release of the hormone cortisol, the primary hormone of "response to stress." Zapata, L.F. (2011) refer that from a physiological point of view, stress is a state of activation with a beneficial adaptive nature because it prepares the organism to offer a response in the fight-runaway dimension, facing a situation that represents a danger or threat. The short-term stress response is a strategic coping that involves a rapid change of priorities from long-term survival to short-term survival. Biological resources are channel towards the systems they may need to face immediate challenges. Whether you must flee or stay and fight, the body requires additional energy and quickly.
The stress response at the central level is mediated by a structure of the diencephalon: the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus receives positive signals from different areas of the brain, from the cerebral cortex, the amygdala, and parts of the reticular formation. Therefore, the hypothalamus is an area of convergence in which cognitive, emotional and activating functions are integrated, which explains the mood swings and a decrease in energy level that Ellie is experiencing. In turn, the hypothalamus sends external signals mainly to the medulla located at the level of the brainstem, causing in this way a general activation of the sympathetic system, which conditions, bristling of the hair, elevation of blood pressure, raising of the heartbeat, profuse sweating, changes on the mood and the ability of coping with stress, to name a few. In addition, in the stress response, the hypothalamus controls the endocrine system by secreting release factors of the hormones to be emitted by the anterior pituitary gland, mainly corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which stimulates the secretion of the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by the anterior pituitary, and which finally, acts on the adrenal glands responsible for the release of cortisol.
However, these symptoms can also occur in cases of decreased function of the thyroid gland (located in the neck, which has the shape of a butterfly), which produces thyroid hormone (thyroxine) which is considered as "the natural accelerator" of the body and whose stimulant, is also provided by the anterior pituitary gland and is known as thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Consider that, the endocrine system, acts as an interconnected network. Different glands and hormones have multiple and complementary effects on the whole human body (and other mammals), so that the deficiency of a particular target gland (adrenals), will condition the diminution of the effect of other related glands and their hormones (thyroid, gonads, pancreas) and therefore, the mentioned symptoms will indeed result of a multiple hormonal dysfunction.
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Words: 479 Keywords: adrenal glands, thyroid gland, hypothalamic-pituitary-gland axis, Cushing's syndrome, hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism.
Reference: Zapata, L. F. (2011). Stress Evolution, physiology, and disease. Psychology from the Caribbean, 24-44.
