Photo by sk on Unsplash The stress response is hardwired into the primate genome. Clearly, the acute stress response is critical for the survival of the fittest. In comparison, a chronic stress response comes at a price. Some people like to think of stress as some subjective phenomenon that you measure on a Lickert scale from 0 (no stress) to 7 (severe or intolerable stress). However, the stress response is biological with glucocorticoid production being the biomarker of choice for measuring stress; i.e. the area-under-the-cortisol-curve over time is how we measure chronic stress. In the field study below of female baboons, chronic glucocorticoid exposure predicted life expectancy. A hypothetical female who maintained glucocorticoid levels in the top decile for her age across adulthood would be expected to lose 5.4 years of life relative to a female who maintained glucocorticoid in the bottom decile for her age. With the life expectancy of the average baboon being 35-45 years of age ...