Stress symposium educates attendees on the effects of stress
On Oct. 8-9 the symposium titled “Evolution of Stress: From Genome to Disease” facilitated discussions on the mechanisms and effects of stress. The event was jointly sponsored by the Institute for Genomic Sciences and Society, the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and the One Health Initiative.
The stress symposium began with a presentation from Dr. Robert M. Sapolsky, professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Stanford University and author of the book “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.” At the presentation, he discussed how chronic stress contributes to many modern ailments, such as heart disease.
For most mammals stress is acute, but stress has become chronic for modern humans, Sapolsky said. Despite this difference, the hormones that make a zebra outrunning a lion stressed are the same ones that make humans stress in social situations.
“We’re being dominated by our evolutionary fortune of being so smart and socially sophisticated that we can chronically generate psychological stress within ourselves, and that’s to the detriment of our health,” said Saplosky.
Sapolsky noted that the stress response causes non-essential bodily functions to shut down. This is helpful in short bursts but harmful in the long run, he said. In the lion chasing the zebra example, he joked that the zebra’s body will say, “The lion is coming! Ovulate some other time!”
However, when the stress is chronic, the body continues to allocate its resources to the stress response in lieu of repair and maintenance, often leading to disease.
Although stress is prevalent in modern society, not everyone experiences stress the same way, said Sapolsky. Having a strong social network, a sense of control, an outlet for stress, and predictability can help mitigate the stress response, he said.
The stress symposium continued on Oct. 9 with the following of presentations:
- Epigenetic Processes Embedding Early-life Stress in the Genome, Dr. Moshe Szyf, McGill University
- Temperament Is Linked with Stress Responsiveness and Is Controlled Genetically, Dr. Ronald D. Randel, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
- Adverse Life Experiences and Pain Sensitization, Dr. Mary W. Meagher, Texas A&M University
- Stress and the Gastrointestinal Tract, Dr. Jackie D. Wood, The Ohio State University
- Death Be Not Proud: Modulation of Programmed Cell Death for Disease Development/Stress Tolerance in Plants, Dr. Martin B. Dickman, Texas A&M University
- Linking Stress, Metabolism, and Immune Function in Cattle, Dr. Jeffery A. Carroll, USDA ARS, Lubbock, Texas
- Genetic and Hormonal Mechanisms that Impair Metabolic Health, Dr. Stephen D. Hursting, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
- Plasticizers: Foe or Friend? An Epigenetic View, Dr. Mahua Choudhury, Texas A&M Health Science Center
- Stress and the Pathophysiology of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dr. Keith A. Young, Texas A&M Health Science Center
A poster session was also held as part of the stress symposium. The winners are as follows:
- Brittni Littlejohn, College of Agricultural and Life Science (First Place in the Stress category)
- Dokyoung You, College of Liberal Arts, (Second Place in the Stress category)
- Robert Fuentes, College of Agricultural and Life Science (Third Place in the Stress category)
- Jeremy Johnson, College of Geosciences (First Place in the Genetics and Genomics category)
- Elshad Hasanov, Center for Translational Cancer Research (Second Place in the Genetics and Genomics category)
- Catherine Powell, College of Pharmacy (Third Place in the Genetics and Genomics category)
