Author Question: Describe the changes that occur in the Cardiovascular System when activated by the fight-or-flight ... (Read 54 times)

sheilaspns

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Describe the changes that occur in the Cardiovascular System when activated by the fight-or-flight response.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Explain the concept of an allostatic load and how it relates to the stages of Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome.
 
  What will be an ideal response?



mtmmmmmk

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Answer to Question 1

In reaction to the fight-or-flight response, the heart increases its rate of contraction. Blood pressure also spikes to circulate blood carrying oxygen and energy to the brain and large muscles of the body in preparation for action.

Answer to Question 2

With time and repetition, such as when an organism is subjected to chronic stressors, the systems at play begin to pay an increasing cost. This cost is known today as the allostatic load. The continual wear and tear and drawing of resources from the different systems of the body, including the immune system, can eventually propel the organism from the first (alarm) stage into Selye's second stage, which he called the resistance stage. Over a more extended time as the organism endures repeated exposure to stressors, the systems become so depleted that injury may result. Thus, the body experiences the final stage called the exhaustion stage where organ systems fail and possible death may ensue.



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