Objective.—This article defines stress and related concepts and reviews their historical
development. The notion of a stress system as the effector of the stress syndrome is
suggested, and its physiologic and pathophysiologic manifestations are described. A new
perspective on human disease states associated with dysregulation of the stress system is
provided. Data Sources.—Published original articles from human and animal studies and
selected reviews. Literature was surveyed utilizing MEDLINE and theIndex Medicus. Study …