Progress in Methods for the Assessment of Allostatic Load and Its Impact on Health

Abstract

Stress is considered to be an important factor leading to diseases. Continuous stress can cause serious disorders in the physiological system of the body. Allostatic load, as a comprehensive index to assess the physiological disorders of multiple systems in the body under chronic stress, can predict a range of health problems. This paper systematically and comprehensively reviews the related concepts and assessment methods of allostatic load and its impact on health, and reveals a significant correlation between allostatic load and health. However, there is no standardized criteria for the selection and algorithm of biomarkers for allostatic load in domestic and foreign studies, which is still a future research direction.

Keywords

• stress, psychological|allostasis|allostatic load|allostatic load indices|health|biomarkers