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 | Research: Stress Temporarily Increases Immune Response |
 Now this is really interesting... This study shows that periods of stress usher in an increased immune response. Earlier this year, a study came out that showed extreme stress was correlated with exacerbations. Could these two outcomes (Stress increases immune responses increases exacerbations) be related? But wait a minute, is MS really an auto-immune disease?
The answer seems to be that the immune system definitely has some role to play in MS (and exacerbations) but it is not the whole story. Knowledge is coming in heaps and bounds, soon the balance of questions and answers will shift to the latter from the former!
"A short burst of stress appears to help the body fight off infections, but chronic stress may produce the opposite effect, according to a new report...
After reviewing 300 studies that investigated the link between stress and immunity, researchers found that short-term stress appears to rev up the immune system, while chronic stress produces changes in the body that seem to diminish immune functioning.
The researcher, who is based at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, explained that when we are stressed, our bodies release stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. When these hormones are intermittently present during brief periods of stress, they cause the body to release immune cells capable of quickly and efficiently fighting off infections.
Click "read more" for the full article...
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Stress Boosts Immunity, But Only in the Short Term
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A short burst of stress appears to help the body fight off infections, but chronic stress may produce the opposite effect, according to a new report.
After reviewing 300 studies that investigated the link between stress and immunity, researchers found that short-term stress appears to rev up the immune system, while chronic stress produces changes in the body that seem to diminish immune functioning.
So are people who are under stress for months at a time -- a result of unemployment, for instance -- more prone to illness? Unfortunately, more research is needed to before researchers can make that conclusion, study author Dr. Suzanne C. Segerstrom cautioned.
This question is "not easy to answer from this body of research," she said.
Segerstrom and her co-author, Dr. Gregory Miller, based their report on a review of 293 studies conducted between 1960 and 2001, in which almost 19,000 people took part.
The researcher, who is based at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, explained that when we are stressed, our bodies release stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. When these hormones are intermittently present during brief periods of stress, they cause the body to release immune cells capable of quickly and efficiently fighting off infections.
"In essence, you're getting 'first responders' on the scene, in case something happens," Segerstrom told Reuters Health.
However, the picture is quite different once those stress hormones are present for prolonged periods, the authors report in the journal Psychological Bulletin.
Segerstrom explained that our bodies carry immune cells that respond only to specific triggers, such as one virus or bacterium. We don't have enough room to carry legions of each type of these cells, so when a particular trigger is present, the cell that targets that trigger makes multiple copies of itself and responds.
However, when people are under prolonged periods of stress, these trigger-specific cells don't multiply as well, thereby reducing their ability to fight the triggers, she said.
In an interview, Segerstrom explained that it makes sense that humans would develop a system that enables their bodies to fight off infections during short bursts of stress. When early humans were running from danger, for instance, they were more likely to get injured and a subsequent infection, and that short-term boosting of their immune system was likely a good source of protection, she said.
However, the change in immune system functioning with long-term stress "does not make as much sense," she said, and is likely an "unintended consequence" of chronic stress, which is relatively new, in evolutionary terms.
Long-term stress, such as from unemployment or poverty, "was just not characteristic of the kinds of things people experienced, until very recently," said Segerstrom.
SOURCE: Psychological Bulletin, July 2004.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
Original Story can be found at:
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5632974
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Re: Stress Temporarily Increases Immune Response (Score: 1)
by Shayk on Tuesday, July 13 @ 23:49:55 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message) | I can’t believe I’m taking a break from my high stress work situation and find an article on stress. The effect of stress and cortisol on the immune system are NOT news to endocrinologists (at least based on my “hormone” books to treat menopause.)
I have a lot to say about this topic but once again no time.
From the book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, by John R. Lee, M.D. with Virginia Hopkins
“Chronic stress leads to chronic high levels of cortisol in the bloodstream, which leads to a greater need for both DHEA and progesterone to maintain balance…..CHRONIC EXCESSIVE CORTISOL IS TOXIC TO BRAIN CELLS IN HIGH CONCENTRATIONS and can cause short-term memory loss. A lifetime of high cortisol levels may be a primary cause of Alzheimer’s disease…. HIGH CORTISOL ALSO BLOCKS THE ACTION OF THE STEROID HORMONES AND THYROID.”
My personal opinion is that the research to date on MS and stress has completely missed the boat so far precisely because it’s been studied from a psychological rather than a medical perspective. To put it bluntly, if PwMS have been saying for years that relapses are associated with stress, why hasn’t anyone bothered to research MS and stress by scientifically measuring the individual cortisol levels and daily cortisol rhythms of PwMS?
A key message from the UK MS Society Research Bulletin 33: April 2004, on researching the question “Does stress trigger relapses?” states:
"Stress is acknowledged to be an individual experience and is unlikely to affect everyone the same way."
To which I respond, HELLO, if there’s one thing about MS that seems to be “known”, it is that it affects everyone differently.
I am just so happy someone’s waking up to the topic and maybe MS researchers will start connecting some dots here. I think research in the area of MS and hormones offers an avenue of tremendous hope not just for me, but for everyone, men and women alike, and of all ages, with MS.
Night all, I don’t want to stress myself out on this topic for obvious reasons. But, for the "not auto-immune" connection, remember they recently discovered a molecule that regulates inflammation that increased when estrogen levels were low.
Sharon
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