Soldiers may also elect not to wear a combat patch. Controversies have arisen in recent years over brigade commanders' decisions to ban combat patches in certain situations. This has been done in an effort to make new recruits, who didn't have the patches, feel less excluded.
Cortisol functions to reduce inflammation in the body, which is good, but over time, these efforts to reduce inflammation also suppress the immune system. Chronic inflammation, caused by lifestyle factors such as poor diet and stress, helps to keep cortisol levels soaring, wreaking havoc on the immune system.
Too much or too little of anything can create problems. The same is true of cortisol, the stress hormone our adrenal glands produce. If you read my article Six Tips to Reduce the Stress Hormone, Cortisol, you know the health problems that result from keeping your body in a state of elevated cortisol.