Just before death, their stress levels were predictably high. But before their demise, some people experienced abrupt rises and falls of cortisol, which could be due to many different reasons.
For example, Webb said the stress could be because of "food availability, drought conditions and nutritional stress," along with reaction to actual or perceived threats "to physical or social integrity, i.e. to health, safety and well-being."
While the stress levels of these Medieval Peruvians were higher on average than levels measured for today's individuals, Webb indicates that the comforts of modern living may not be able to erase human stress.
"A society serves as a protective buffer, and while our society effectively protects us from, for example, extreme year-to-year differences in food availability, as individuals, we still experience considerable stress in our lives for other reasons," she said.
Source-ANI
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