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Stress (medicine), in medicine, a physical, chemical, or emotional development that causes strains that can lead to physical illness. A pre-eminent authority on stress, the Canadian doctor Hans Selye identified three stages in the stress response. In the first stage, alarm, the body recognizes the stress and prepares for action, either to fight or escape. Endocrine glands release hormones that increase heartbeat and respiration, elevate blood sugar, increase perspiration, dilate the pupils, and slow the digestion. In the second stage, resistance, the body repairs any damage caused by the alarm reaction. If the stress continues, however, the body remains alert and cannot repair the damage. As resistance continues, the third stage, exhaustion, sets in, and a stress-related disorder might result. Prolonged exposure to stress depletes the body's energy supplies and can even lead to death.