Practice question · Multiple choice
Cortisol switches off the very signals that produced it. Why would a stress system be built to sabotage itself?
Hints
- Cortisol mobilises energy and dampens inflammation. Ask what those same actions cost over two years.
- A system with no off-switch is not more powerful, it is uncontrollable.
Show the answer
C. Because the response is worth having briefly and damaging sustained
Why
The off-switch is what makes the response safe to have. Cortisol is exactly right for a two-minute threat and corrosive for two years, so the axis winds itself down once the stressor passes. In chronic stress that feedback itself dulls, which is the mechanism behind Selye's exhaustion stage.
Practise Endocrine System
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