Variation in epinephrine and cortisol excretion rates associated with behavior in an Australian Aboriginal community

Bibliographic Data

ID8317811
AuthorsL H Schmitt (0000-0002-6499-3035, The University of Western Australia, corresponding author), G Ainsworth Harrison (University of Oxford), Randolph M Spargo (Government of Western Australia Department of Health)
Year1998
Volume106
Issue2
Pages249-253
Publication date1998-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199806)106:2<249::aid-ajpa10>3.0.co;2-0
PMID9637187
OpenAlexW2153906774
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited12

Urinary epinephrine and cortisol hormone output in a remote Australian Aboriginal community was on average about twice as high in those individuals measured on a Thursday or Friday as those measured at the beginning of the next week (Monday or Tuesday). Diastolic blood pressure was about 6 mm Hg higher in the Thursday-Friday group, but the difference in mean systolic blood pressure between the day groups does not reach statistical significance. These physiological differences are associated with a marked dichotomy in behavior in the two time periods: on the first 2 days, virtually all adults were involved in intense gambling activity for large stakes, but this was not a feature of the latter period. This behavior pattern occurs on a regular weekly basis. If substantiated by longitudinal studies, this phenomenon may provide an additional link between human behavior and a poor health profile mediated via the physiological consequences of high stress hormone output.

Blood pressure · Diastole · Epinephrine · Excretion · Heart rate · Hormone · Sociology · Thursday · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Demography · Endocrinology · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Physical Activity and Health · Physiology · Psychology · Stress Responses and Cortisol

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub