Read more: “Immune retune: Recharging your body’s natural defences“
Close your eyes. Count to 10. Whatever you do, stay calm. Stress can weaken the immune system transiently but significantly.
Despite its New-Age associations, studying the links between mind and body is now a respectable field of research, sometimes termed “psychoneuroimmunology”. Some of the classic studies have looked at immune responses after getting a vaccine. For instance, one of the pioneers in this field, Ronald Glaser at Ohio State University in Columbus, showed that people stressed out by looking after a relative with Alzheimer’s disease had worse antibody and T-cell responses to a flu vaccine. Their wounds were slower to heal, and they also caught more throat infections ().
Advertisement
While there are myriads of signalling pathways between the brain and the immune system, the key players seem to be the stress hormones cortisol and noradrenalin. These bind to receptors on immune cells and interfere with their ability to respond to antigens, leaving us more susceptible to infections.
On the other hand a little of the bad stuff might be beneficial. A recent analysis of over 300 studies found that a short stressful experience, like public speaking, boosted blood levels of immune cells (). “A slight elevation of stress hormones is good for you,” says Bruce Rabin at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
He doesn’t recommend setting out to get stressed, but instead advises learning how to cope better with any stress that comes along. “Be optimistic, fit, have a sense of humour,” he suggests. Most important of all is to keep your friends. “Loneliness is the killer.”
“Most important for dealing with stress is to keep your friends: loneliness is the killer”
This could be why women cope with bereavement better than men. “Women have friends that they talk to about personal issues,” says Rabin. “It’s a buffer.”
