Adaptogens Generators of Adaptation
One of the most major problems that affect everyone in the world today is
STRESS. As infants and continuing through adulthood, we are all plagued by
stress.
Some consider that a person in the modern world has much less stress than a
person of the past. On the contrary, after all, the fear and trembling of the
primitive hunter before a predator invokes the same stressful reaction of the
modern employee before the terrible chief. However, while the hunter could
release some of his stress by offensive reaction or escape, the modern
employee has no means for release and simply has to suppress these emotions.
The primitive person had less rich imagination; he was not pushed "to make
mountains out of molehill," reducing probability of development of mental
stress. According to the modern data four out of five adults suffer from some
form of stress. Despite all modern conveniences making our life "easier," we
experience in one day, more stress than our primitive ancestors in a month or
year. Not only is there more itself, results in formation of new stressful
factors, such as radiation, products of the chemical synthesis, the modified
forms of causative organisms, toxic byproducts, environmental pollution etc.
One of latest and most dangerous is international terrorism, which is reaching
all masses of the population. Acts of terrorism can invoke deep depression in
a society, afflicting the most productive, highly educated and consequently
most vulnerable part of the population.
If you were to ask if it was possible to live without stress, only the
negative answer follows. To live without stress is impossible and even
harmful. The question should be asked: How can we live in conditions of
stress? According to Selye it means to provide to itself a "stress without
distress" (Selye has entitled on of his latest books (1); "A distress
Harmful, Unpleasant Stress"). For achievement of this purpose, Selye suggests
to correctly estimate a situation and to switch on one or another group of
hormones, the first for "fight," the second for "complacency." He also
suggests that we normally react more strongly than we need to. The person
himself should define an optimum level of stress. How to achieve it? The
founder of the doctrine about stress correctly recommends to estimate the
forces and not to try to solve a problem which may be higher than
opportunities of that given person.
What can a person do to combat stress? Lets review the active methods of
building up a resistance (ability to resist to factors of external influence)
of an organism. They can be divided into three groups. The first group
includes the methods using physical factors of influence, such as physical
training and conditioning of the body. The second group: autogenic training,
psychotherapy, and hypnosis. The final group is related to application of the
biologically active substances. Professor Brekhnam I. I. called it
pharmacosanation.
The method of choice seems to be biologically active substances. Huge
amounts of biologically active substances get into our bodies with nutrition,
wine, soft drinks and medicinal preparations.
Undoubtedly, diverse vegetative nutrition plays an important role in modern
conditions of human life. It gives the human not only a limited set of
vitamins, but also a much greater number of the diversified biologically
active substances. People from ancient times understood and appreciated the
useful influence of these products of the ground and sun. It can be said, that
reduction of this one part of nutrition is seriously reflected in a state of
health of people and their resistance to stress.
Avicenna and other adherents of Oriental medicine widely used "medicinal
nutrition," or "alimentary medicine," which were separate plants or more often
their complex mixtures. Among medicinal plants of Oriental medicine, food
plants make up about half.
Stress protection is a peculiar engineering problem. For example there
are mechanisms that may work in conditions of high temperature and humidity,
which the human body can be subjected to. If it is to be a positive stress
relieving mechanism the person should be able to pass through stressful
influences and remain alive and minimally damaged. Agents are necessary, which
would build the body resistance to stress while not decrease its capacity to
work.
The specified purpose may be achieved only by optimization of the
physiological processes inherent to the organism providing a natural general
nonspecific resistance. This method has been chosen by professor N.V.
Lazarev, he has offered this together with professor M.A. Roziny the new
remedy Dibazolum, and named the new group of medicinal substances
adaptogens. Further, the adaptogen doctrine has received development through
the work of the Great Russian scientist and my teacher, Professor I.I.
Brekhman. The big role information of the group of remedies characterized as
adaptogens is played by Eleutherococcus.
Adaptogens
So, what are adaptogens? Adaptogens are a new class of biologically active
agents, basically of the connatural parentage, creating in an organism a state
of nonspecific raised resistance, and long consuming rising of adaptable
abilities of an organism. As was already mentioned earlier, the state
of the nonspecific raised resistance arises at muscle trainings and has some
similarity to a stage of a resistance of the general adaptation reaction,
though is not completely identical to it.
Numerous experiments with Eleutherococcus, one of the most investigated and
popular adaptogens, has shown that it is a pharmacological agent which relaxes
the manifestations of stress and simultaneously builds up resistance and
durability of an organism. This property of eleutherococcus was repeatedly
confirmed in observations in studies with many volunteers.
Eleutherococcus was shown to build body resistance of rank-and file
members of a crew up to a level of the qualified sportsmen, (2) which
tolerated tropical conditions more easily. Another well-known adaptogen
leusea carthamoides was successfully used for improving the function state of
the nervous system, augmentation of mental and physical efficiency at sailors
in conditions of long Artic navigation (3). Preventive action of
eleutherococcus successfully utilized for down stroke of a sickness rate among
workers on chemical production (4), other production enterprises, and workers
in agriculture (5). The most numerous (up to 60,000 workers) were conducted at
a Volzhsk automobile factory in Tolyatti. The sickness rate of influenza has
decreased 30-35% and work-losses 20-30%. Rather convincing, is the study which
was carried out with the truck drivers. They received a daily tea mixture with
0.25 ml of eleutherococcus extract for 2 months. Such courses of prophylaxis
carried out 2-3 times per year for 6 years. Such application of
eleutherococcus reduced the sickness rate with influenza and other illnesses,
such as an ischemia and a hypertonia (6).
Whereas adaptogens use the steady popularity, many explorers and the
commercial companies frequently hasty rank as adaptogens mass of new drugs,
those not is being. With sufficient confidence it is possible to attribute to
adaptogens only some agents: preparations of a ginseng (Panax ginseng C.F. Mey),
eleutherococcus (Eleutherococcus senticosus Maxim.) (7; 8; 9), leusea (leusea
carthamoides DC.) rhodiola (Rhodiola Rosea L.) (10), echinopanax (Echinopanax
elatum Nakai), aralias mandzhurica (Aralia mandshurica) (11), acantopanax (Acantopanax
sessiliflorum), schizandra (Schizandra chinensis) (12), Pantocrinum and
rantarin. At present, in connection with the big scope of scientific data
obtained, we can attribute to a class of adaptogens the Olygomeric
Proanthocyanidin complexes (13), possessing the necessary set of biological
activities (14). Considering, the fact that olygomeric proanthocyanidins
represents the basic part of a polyphenolic complex of grapes, wine, apple and
cider, which has been consumed by humans for over 6000 years (15) such age has
viniculture and winemaking (16). All this allows us to express the statement
about evolutionary adaptedness of the human body for awareness of these
biologically active substances (13) which has been proved by numerous studies
of pharmacological activity with this group of substances.
The listed preparations, not comparing differences in their properties,
have much in common with the basic "adaptogenic" properties. They are
"Generators of Adaptation". They have a wide spectrum of protective activity
against numerous unfavorable factors. They raise fastness of animals to
overheating and vigor to the raises muscular load. They also have a protective
action to toxic influences of various chemicals and too many infectious
contaminants, by stimulating the detoxification function of the liver.
On a normal background adaptogens have rather modest promoting effect.
Their basic property is to recover and restore physiological functions,
including ones during activity. In difference from stimulators of Phenaminum
class, which effect is carried out as a result of the "exhaustion
mobilization" of energy resources invoking subsequently long droop of function
activity, adaptogens do not render such "squeezing out" effect.
Demands to which there should conform an adaptogen were formulated by
professor I.I. Brekhman (8):
- The Adaptogen should be completely safe (non-toxic)
- To render its biological activity only on the changed background
- To act non-specifically i.e. to build body resistance to various factors
of a physical, chemical and biological nature. Also, to influence
irrespective of the direction of previous changes and that is more
expressed, than changes in an organism are deeper.
This definition of the properties of adaptogens was made approximately 20
years ago. The basic requirements of adaptogens have been kept the same, until
now; new facts demand addition of corrective amendments. To the perfect
harmlessness of adaptogens it is necessary to add in optimal doses.
Functionally changed background is the basic condition of exhibiting of a
biological effect of an adaptogen. However this "condition" does not work at
chronic disease in result of steadfastly generated new pathogenetic relations,
becoming normal for the given organism. For exhibiting of adaptogenic effect
of it is necessary some "shakeup" of stress origin, for example surgery.
Thus, essence of action of adaptogens in rendering finally a positive
effect on a function shape of an organism, without dependence from a direction
of function alteration, optimizing physiological processes inherent to the
organism, providing augmentation of a natural general nonspecific resistance.
Being an athlete is about using your body under much stress
and tension. Once I started taking Primorye, I felt healthier,
stronger, overall just better.
Daniel Clout
Member of the USA Triathlon Team and
2008 Olympic hopeful
New Zealand
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See Also: Why
Athletes Need Russian Adaptogens
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