Allostatic Load in Clinical Practice

Abstract

There is growing awareness of the role of allostatic load (the cost of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened physiologic responses resulting from repeated or chronic stress) in the balance between health and disease. When environmental challenges exceed the individual ability to cope, allostatic overload ensues. The determination of allostatic load initially relied on measurements of biomarkers, and then it was expanded to clinimetric criteria for allostatic overload. It provides a characterization of the individual psychosocial environment that is missing from current clinical diagnostic formulations and has major implications for identifying syndromes that are not included in traditional diagnostic classifications. Healthy lifestyle behavior and euthymia may modulate the vulnerabilities induced by allostatic overload. Here, we present a staging system for the longitudinal development of allostatic load. Consideration of allostatic load allows clinicians to create individually tailored interventions to prevent or decrease the negative impact of environmental factors on health.