Stress, catecholamines, and sleep.

Difficulties in defining stress stem from its subjective nature. Measurements of stress based on its effects on physical and mental morbidity tend to be speculative because of the multifactorial causation of stress-related diseases, and the characteristically long time-lag between stress states and morbidity. In this study catecholamine output was measured in a group of adults Oxfordshire villagers and the observed variations were related to their lifestyles and health perceptions. A marked circadian variation was observed with adrenaline showing the most marked associations with lifestyle. In men it was possible to account for a relatively high proportion of the variation in adrenaline excretion by relating values to certain factors associated with stress. In women there appears to be a similar association between adrenaline output and the social class of the husband. Data were also obtained on sleep characteristics, which were assessed with regard to lifestyle. Very broadly, sleep duration is related to the level of waking activity, while sleep latency and quality are correlated with people's self-perception of health.