ADRENAL STRESS
PATTERN ON A HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS
By Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© November 2013, L.D. Wilson Consultants, Inc.
All
information in this article is solely the opinion of the author and for
educational purposes only. It is
not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health
condition.
Adrenal
stress pattern is an extreme adrenal gland reaction or fight-or-flight
reaction. In fact, any time the
sodium level on a hair mineral analysis is over about 30 mg%, one could say
that it is a degree of adrenal alarm reaction. However, this pattern is defined as a sodium level above 100
mg%, as this would define an extreme adrenal reaction. Hair
must not be washed at the laboratory for accurate sodium readings.
This is a
common finding on hair tests among babies and young children up to the age of
about 4 -8. After that age, the
pattern is much less prevalent, although it does occur in adults, at times,
more so men than women.
THE
MEANING OF AN ELEVATED SODIUM LEVEL AND ADRENAL STRESS PATTERN
Adrenal
stress pattern tends to indicate that the body is secreting more adrenal
hormones than is ideal, especially aldosterone. This interesting hormone has the effect
of causing sodium retention in the body at the level of the kidneys. Aldosterone
is called the mineralocorticoid because it regulates
sodium, and indirectly, it regulates the levels of other electrolytes or
minerals in the body.
Adrenal
cortical hormones such as aldosterone have a wide
variety of effects upon the body.
Among them are to retain some water in the blood and the tissues. This can be related to higher blood
pressure, for example, which occurs often when this pattern is present in
adults. It does not occur in
babies and children, as a rule, as their arteries are much healthier and can
handle the strain of this imbalance better.
Other
symptoms include anxiety, irritability, nervousness, a short temper and
aggression, at times. This is
sometimes seen in young babies or children who are overtired, hungry, thirsty
or need their diapers changed. Any
such stress, or others, perhaps, can easily throw them into an adrenal stress
pattern and be accompanied by crying, screaming, or violent behavior if they
are older children or adults.
Other,
more subtle symptoms may occur if the pattern becomes chronic. Dr. Paul Eck mentioned that it is
associated with a higher blood sugar level, generally, because corticosteroids
convert fats, amino acids and glycogen to sugars. Insulin levels may also be higher, and the pattern is
associated with metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance as well in some
cases.
Inflammation
is another prominent symptom in some cases. This may cause various symptoms of pain somewhere in the
body. It is also associated with
inflammatory emotions such as anger, rage, aggressiveness and possibly
violence.
Another
effect of elevated sodium on a hair mineral analysis is to drive down the
levels of calcium and magnesium.
These are antagonistic, in this regard. This can contribute to a host of symptoms such as muscle
cramps, irritability, tension in the body, hyperactivity, ADD, ADHD, autistic
symptoms at times, fear, severe allergic reactions and perhaps others as
well. If the pattern is chronic,
it is associated with certain kinds of joint pain, osteoporosis, fast oxidation
and allergies.
EXCEPTIONS
TO THE ABOVE
Very
rarely, a person has a high hair sodium, but does not display any of these
symptoms. Some cases can be traced
to the use of a water softener that uses salt pellets. Bathing in this water daily can raise
the hair sodium level.
Fortunately, this is not a common problem. It can be ruled out easily by asking if the person bathes in
water softened with salt pellets.
When
doing a test on such a person, this effect can be overcome by washing the hair
twice in distilled or reverse osmosis water just before sampling the hair. While a little sodium may be left in
the hair, this will remove the bulk of it.
Also,
rarely a high sodium on a hair mineral test is due to a loss of sodium through
the hair. This is extremely, rare,
but I have seen it in one or two cases.
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