Pituitary Adrenal System

The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system is responsible for regulating the body’s hormones including cortisol and other stress related hormones. If stress is lasting longer than a few minutes it causes the levels of cortisol to be increased. This is increased from the adrenal cortex. Before cortisol is released two other hormones are released first which are the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). These are released in short pulses. This causes a sustained release of cortisol of about 15 minutes. In the blood this has a half-life of 100 minutes. With a prolonged release of ACTH the adrenal cortex will be able to handle if a greater amount of cortisol is produced. This is due to the increase in