engleski

Stress - the most threatening epidemic of modern world

Life in a modern society gives numerous benefits, but is also associated with numerous stressful situations that determine the way we live our lives. Although we might seem quite adapted, physiological mechanism that underly our physical existence are not very flexible and have changed very little since the appearance of humans. On the other hand, living by the clock, meeting deadlines and the continuous need to live up to various expectations are on the evolutionary time-scale something very novel. As a consequence, the level of stress in modern society has increased dramatically. Under stress human organism redistributes its energy resources in the anticipation of an incoming threat. Systems that are needed for the immediate reaction (locomotory and sensory) are activated to their full extent, while secondary systems (digestive, immune, reproductive, etc.) are temporarily depressed. Damages to the depressed systems are inevitable in prolonged stress, and a number of epidemiological and experimental studies conducted during past years clearly demonstrated its effects on development and course of many diseases. Although the link between stress and diseases is very evident, biochemical mechanisms that could explain this link are still mostly unknown. Though hormonal changes are key mediators of the physiological changes in stress, other factors appear to be decisive in the development of stress-associated disorders. Glycosylation, as the most important posttranslation modification and interaction mechanism at the level of organism is one of the potential candidates.

stress; disease; glycosylation

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