There are about more than ten percent of professionals in the developing world who are overworked according to estimates.

Overwork can be fatal to your health and can cause changes in the normal functioning of the body as one get to the verge of being exhausted.

Signs of anxiety at work, extreme exhaustion and immobility are some of the symptoms that can lead to significant changes in the functioning of metabolism associated with hormonal imbalance.

One of the hormones that is commonly link to stress is the cortisol, which is produced by glands located on top of the kidneys, one on each side. When we are scared, threatened or stressed out, these glands secrete into the bloodstream high doses of cortisol.

Among the other functions of cortisol is that it provides high concentration of energy to muscles, glucose as it helps regulate our metabolism and our daily rhythm.

Concentration of cortisol in the blood increases dramatically in situations of acute stress, according to researchers.

People with ongoing stress, chronically high concentrations of cortisol levels has fall alarmingly low due to the exhaustion of the stress hormone system.

Researchers at the Center for Stress Studies, University of Montreal, Canada, evaluated the possibility of using simple tests to detect the state of chronic stress and exhaustion.

Thirty volunteers were evaluated in the initial study, for the concentrations of several hormones, including insulin and cortisol. They correlated the measured concentration in blood and saliva, with the level of chronic stress and intensive labor.

The researchers were able to demonstrate a parallel relationship between low cortisol levels and exhaustion. When they were observing how people with similar symptoms were routinely treated by doctors, they found that most received antidepressant medications. Paradoxically, this class of drugs typically reduces the levels of cortisol.

Scientists suggest that new studies attempt to establish clear criteria which separate laboratory depressed patients, from those with chronic stress and professional exhaustion. An accurate diagnosis can be very difficult. After all, despite the fact that the symptoms are very similar, the treatments are quite different and sometimes adverse.