On basic physiological stress mechanisms in men and women: Gender observations on catecholamines, cortisol and blood pressure monitored in daily life

Abstract

This chapter is focussed on three biological stress indicators, catecholamines, cortisol and blood pressure monitored in daily life. The emphasis is on observations made on human subjects in epidemiological studies although reference is also made to laboratory studies, which may illuminate basic mechanisms of importance to the understanding of the epidemiological associations. For all the three stress indicators there are both similarities and differences between men and women. The patterning of stressor exposure is partly gender specific. Socialization into gender roles is of importance. In the classical studies by Frankenhaeuser and Lundberg, women reacted with more sympathoadrenomedullary reaction to family related stressors whereas men reacted more strongly to job related stressors. Similar observations have been made in more recent studies. Emotional coping is partly gender specific and this influences male and female biological stress responses. There are also biological gender differences that are of significance. For instance there is evidence that the high estrogen output in premeno-pausal women may protect against strong biological stress reactions. During recent years researchers have started exploring the complex interplay between genetically and epigenetically determined sensitivity in these reactions to environmental stressors. It has been shown that these determinants may differ between men and women. A recent study by our group shows that there was no difference between boy and girl infants (age 6, 12 and 24 months) with regard to saliva cortisol in morning, afternoon or bedtime samples. However, there was a pronounced effect on saliva cortisol levels of the environment in these children. A group with a small amount of distressing environmental stimuli had much lower saliva cortisol levels than other infants in the study. This speaks in favour of a strong environmental influence on cortisol patterns.