Concept
McEwen and Stellar (1993) argued stress responses protect in the short run but damage when frequent or prolonged. McEwen (1998) described the two faces of mediators such as cortisol, adding biology to stress theory.
Measurement
Seeman and colleagues (1997) counted high-risk values across blood pressure, waist-hip ratio, cholesterol, glucose and cortisol; higher scores predicted cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and death. Juster and colleagues (2010) and Guidi and colleagues (2021) reviewed later work.
Inequality
Seeman and colleagues (2010) found higher load among those with less income and education, and Geronimus and colleagues (2006) used it to test the weathering hypothesis. It is a key pathway in life course and social determinants research.
FAQ
- What is allostatic load in simple terms?
- The wear and tear on the body from constantly coping with stress.
- How is it measured?
- By combining biomarkers such as blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose and stress hormones.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- McEwen, B. S., & Stellar, E. (1993). Stress and the individual: Mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153(18), 2093–2101. The article introducing the concept.
- McEwen, B. S. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338(3), 171–179. Protective and damaging stress effects.
- Seeman, T. E., Singer, B. H., Rowe, J. W., Horwitz, R. I., & McEwen, B. S. (1997). Price of adaptation—Allostatic load and its health consequences: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Archives of Internal Medicine, 157(19), 2259–2268. The first allostatic load score.
- Juster, R.-P., McEwen, B. S., & Lupien, S. J. (2010). Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(1), 2–16. Review of biomarkers.
- Seeman, T., Epel, E., Gruenewald, T., Karlamangla, A., & McEwen, B. S. (2010). Socio-economic differentials in peripheral biology: Cumulative allostatic load. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1186(1), 223–239. Socioeconomic gradients in allostatic load.
- Geronimus, A. T., Hicken, M., Keene, D., & Bound, J. (2006). "Weathering" and age patterns of allostatic load scores among blacks and whites in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 96(5), 826–833. Racial gaps in allostatic load by age.
- Guidi, J., Lucente, M., Sonino, N., & Fava, G. A. (2021). Allostatic load and its impact on health: A systematic review. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 90(1), 11–27. A recent systematic review.