Stress has evolved. But our responses haven’t.

ARPS™ is based on the scientific concept of allostatic load, which is a measure of the body's attempt to respond to external stimuli and bring itself into a balanced state. The next few sections help you learn more about allostatic load and its impact on health.

For primitive mankind, the physical effects of stress--alertness and a jolt of hormones--were crucial for survival. Once the threat passed, the body returned to normal.

Today, however, life-or-death situations have been replaced by a nearly constant barrage of stimulation. Stress hormones are kept pumping by daily life: traffic, job pressures, concern over children or aging parents. Contributing to stress-induced hormone responses are genetic factors, age, sleep patterns, ability to manage stress and lifestyle risks such as smoking, drinking, poor diet and lack of adequate exercise.

Unfortunately, our bodies still have the same primitive response, and stress-filled days virtually ensure that our bodies remain on a heightened state of alert.