The discoverer of the functions of the adrenals, was Hans Selye, who selected the names stress and adaptation, observed that there were two different responses to stress, the anti-inflammatory and the pro-inflammatory, or the “general” and the “specific.” The latter responds to stress with an exact and specific reaction in distinct molecular, immune, thermoregulatory, nervous, and endocrine functions firing up, amounting to a specific local reaction. Selye called this the “local adaptation syndrome.” The anti-inflammatory pole, associated with cortisol, not only suppresses the immune system but causes a systemic (“general”) reaction that tones down the local responses. 

Basically, for the past thousands of years, we have been working on the specific or “local” response with herbs and other therapeutic tools. Russian scientists, developing Selye’s ideas, introduced the idea of strengthening ‘adaptogens,’ or remedies that operate on the other pole of adrenocortical action: suppression of the inflammatory response. 

These ‘adaptogens’ strengthen the ‘reading’ of the blood by the hypothalamic-pituitary, the signaling to the adrenals, or thyroid, with the resulting improvement in response to stress. They include Siberian ginseng (eleuthero), Chinese and American ginseng, spikenard (Aralia), ashwagandha, schizandra, rhodiola, and other now very popular herbs. 

Adaptogens have specific pharmacology, which also will be cited.