[Neuroendocrine disorders cause stress-related disease. "Civilization syndrome" is a growing health problem]

Although the relationship between stress and serious diseases, such as ischaemic heart disease, is well known, the underlying mechanisms have proved difficult to identify. With a new technique available today, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis can be shown to constitute a central physiological factor in the interplay between stress and disease. This technique opens up new diagnostic possibilities, and thus therapeutic and preventive options, in stress-related diseases which represent a growing health problem in modern society.