[Hormone changes as indicators of stress in the development and course of myocardial infarct]

The effect of hormonal-metabolic risk factors in the development of various forms of the coronary heart disease is included into a concept of stress. After demonstration of the historical development of the stress research on the further developed basis of the general adaptation syndrome of Selye the adrenocortical system is used for the evaluation of stressors. Thereby the hormonal characteristics of the behaviour of type A which is at risk of an infarction after Friedman and Rosenman are described. The hormonal-metabolic adaptation of the organism to psychosomatic stressors is demonstrated for the acute phase and the chronic phase. In the acute phase the corticol level correlates with the clinical course of the infarction as well as with the haemodynamic parameters PAEDP and heart index. Cortisol is regarded as parameter of the postaggression metabolism. The increased cortisol level dependent upon time in its course leads to the low-T3-syndrome and to the decrease of testosterone. From this result secondarily effective modifications of the metabolism which are above all valuated as defence reactions. In the chronic phase of risk the values of cortisol are lowered in the stress response. This low cortisol response is a functional maladaptation, which according to our retrospective study is prognostically favourable. A therapeutic influence on the adrenocortical function by calcium antagonists is effective, but up to now not yet sufficiently proved.