Cortisol generally protects cells by blocking over-stimulation and providing increased material for energy and repair, but it can kill cells (nerve cells and thymus cells) that depend on glucose oxidation, leading to immunodeficiency and excitotoxic brain damage.
This is why whenever I go to the doctor every 5 years or go I feel like I’m doing a public service. It’s like letting a mechanic who spends his whole life working on beaters pop the hood on a Ferrari, like go ahead doc, enjoy yourself.
“Do not allow the spark of discord and enmity to smolder. The longer you wait, the more the enemy tries to cause confusion among you. Be watchful, so that he does not mock you. Humility destroys all of his schemes.” - St. Macarius of Optina