Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping

by Robert M. Sapolsky

Two hormones vital to the stress-response, as already noted, are epinephrine and norepinephrine, released by the sympathetic nervous system. Another important class of hormones in the response to stress are called glucocorticoids. By the end of this book you will be astonishingly informed about glucocorticoid trivia, since I am in love with these hormones. Glucocorticoids are steroid hormones. (Steroid is used to describe the general chemical structure of five classes of hormones: androgens—the famed “anabolic” steroids like testosterone that get you thrown out of the Olympics—estrogens, progestins, mineralocorticoids, and glucocorticoids.) Secreted by the adrenal gland, they often act, as we will see, in ways similar to epinephrine. Epinephrine acts within seconds; glucocorticoids back this activity up over the course of minutes or hours.