Question

​Amber and her 3-year-old daughter, Madison, are walking along the beach on a beautiful summer day. Suddenly Madison’s foot starts bleeding heavily after she stepped on a piece of glass in the sand. Amber tries to stop the bleeding with a t-shirt and hurries back toward the parking lot with Madison in her arms. What is the role of cortisol in this situation?

Answer 1

Answer:    It boosts the energy available to Amber for dealing with a stressor

Explanation:  The situation in which Amber finds herself is stressful, which means many vital functions are in a stress regime and something is needed to regulate that stressful state. Cortisol, among other things, controls the blood pressure, which of course is increased in this situation and due to which it can lead to wrong decisions and fast moves, which is the least necessary in such a situation. So, it takes something that will raise the vital energy level of Amber needed to overcome the stress state. Cortisol can also affect the regulation of other vital functions in the body because most cells have receptors for cortisol, it is a stress hormone that controls also level of the blood sugar.  As such, it increases blood sugar levels during stress, so that the availability of sugar in the brain is increased, and thus the greater the ability and availability of substances that repair tissues, of course too much cortisol causes unwanted side effects.