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The mechanisms of this phenomenon are still being studied, but the fact is undeniable: stress affects the immune system. We called on the help of specialists to figure out how we can help ourselves in the face of inevitable stress.
The word “immunity” is associated with autumn-spring colds and flu epidemics. A smaller part knows it from a different side, when the violent flowering of herbs and trees leads to an allergic rhinitis. Thanks to advertising, it is now widely known that the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract is responsible for immunity.
The fact that immunity is closely related to our emotions has received scientific explanations relatively recently. The study of the connections between thinking, feelings and the ability to resist disease marked the birth of a new discipline – psychoneuroimmunology.
One of the main enemies of immunity (the body’s ability to resist microbes, bacteria, protect us from diseases) is chronic stress. Immunity is significantly reduced in conditions of constant stress and psychological discomfort.
Stress is almost unavoidable. But it is in our hands to be attentive to the body
“The biochemical mechanism of this phenomenon in general terms looks like this,” says Alexander Poletaev, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor at the Research Institute of Normal Physiology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. – Emotional experiences excite the cortex and other brain structures, the hypothalamic-pituitary system forces the adrenal cortex to produce an increased amount of corticosteroids, stress hormones.
This, in turn, leads to the mass death of lymphocytes (defender cells), and this is fraught with the emergence, for example, of oncological diseases: cancer cells that constantly appear in the body are not recognized and destroyed in time. No wonder the doctors of the past called cancer the “disease of sadness.” Fortunately, not every case of immunosuppression due to chronic stress ends in cancer – most often a person, as they say, cannot get out of colds.
Stress is an almost unavoidable phenomenon. However, we have several possibilities in our hands to tip the scales in our favor: firstly, to be attentive to the body, and secondly, to learn how to control mental reactions.
How the immune system works
Finding a weak link in the body means spending time and money on examinations. Perhaps soon this time-consuming process will replace the only test – for autoantibody titers.
The immune system contains an image of an individual organism, recorded using a special set of antigens to its own organs and tissues. It constantly monitors the molecular composition of the body and, if it detects violations, starts the work of correction mechanisms.
“The concept of the “immune homunculus” was put forward in 1989 by the Israeli professor Irun Cohen from the Weizmann Institute,” says immunologist Alexander Poletaev. – In our body, natural autoantibodies are constantly formed to the proteins of all organs and tissues. The development of pathological processes is accompanied by a change in their number, and the first antibodies may appear decades before the onset of the disease. It is a very accurate tool for the early diagnosis of many diseases.”
Help the immune system
The body regularly “informs” us about the problems occurring in it. For example, if problems arise in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) – gastritis, colitis, duodenitis, that is, inflammatory changes in the wall of the digestive tube, then they inevitably affect the functioning of the immune system.
“Approximately 80% of the lymphoid tissue in which the formation of immunoglobulins occurs is located around the gastrointestinal tract,” explains Alexander Poletaev. “This is logical from the point of view of nature, because it is with food that we get the majority of foreign substances that require neutralization and special vigilance on the part of the immune system.”
In the body of a healthy adult, about 3 kg of lacto- and bifidobacteria
The processes occurring in the gastrointestinal tract are closely related to the risk of allergies. Presumably, this dependence may be due to the “competitive” relationship of the two classes of immunoglobulins IgE and IgA (proteins involved in the creation of immunity). As Alla Simonova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, an employee of the Institute of Immunology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, explains, when the amount of protective IgA decreases in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract, the amount of IgE directly associated with the formation of allergic reactions increases.
Of course, for an allergic person or a person who often catches a cold, knowing this mechanism is not so important – it is important to pay attention to the health of the digestive system in time. “The immune defense of the intestine works in close symbiosis with lacto- and bifidobacteria,” recalls Vadim Sergeev, candidate of medical sciences, gastroenterologist-nutritionist, employee of the Russian Scientific Center for Restorative Medicine and Balneology. “In the body of a healthy adult, there are about 3 kg of them.”
Therefore, dysbacteriosis (an inevitable consequence of antibiotic treatment) necessarily requires correction with the help of lactic preparations. The digestive system also includes the liver, which processes toxins – from pharmaceuticals and preservatives to the decay products of the body’s own proteins. If the liver does not work as it should, does not cope with the neutralization of toxins, this also affects the immune system.
Food allergies and dermatitis – the first signal of a failure in the immune system
“The organs and cells of the immune system are scattered throughout the body, but connected together through blood and lymphatic vessels. The immune system controls the constancy of our internal environment. Disharmonious work “on the afterburner” leads to the fact that the course of immune processes becomes pathological, which leads to allergic reactions,” explains Alexander Poletaev. Food allergies and dermatitis are the first signal of a malfunction in the immune system.
“If incompletely digested products are removed from the body through the skin, they disrupt the course of normal biochemical processes in the skin itself, and this leads to pustular rashes,” says Irina Kosheleva, Candidate of Medical Sciences, dermatologist, employee of the Clinic for Skin and Venereal Diseases of the Moscow Medical Academy. Sechenov. “If, in addition, the pH of the skin changes from slightly acidic to alkaline (and this happens with poor liver and intestinal function, hormonal disorders), then the fight against acne turns into an endless one.”
From the point of view of science, the main thing is to understand which link of the immunological defense is broken and try to correct the situation.
Character traits and reaction to stress
While academic science is trying to understand the intricacies of the immune system, research by psychologists shows a direct link between the response to stress and personality traits. Martin Seligman, professor at the University of Pennsylvania (USA), in his experiments with animals proved that those who do not capitulate to difficulties and continue to look for a way out of a stressful situation are much better at resisting diseases.
In some cases, acute stress even increases immunity, we say “the body is mobilized” – however, scientists are still debating about the mechanisms of this phenomenon. In short, an individual’s response to stress can minimize its detrimental effects. So we will have to master two fundamental points: to try to change for the better what is in our hands, and … to accept what cannot be changed.
Consciousness controls the immune system?
When we try to find a way out of a difficult situation – psychologists call this state “search behavior” – on the physical level, our body is also tuned to fight, and not to capitulate to external aggression. There are different hypotheses about how the non-material (thoughts, emotions) communicates with the material (the body and all its systems).
American neurophysiologist, Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry suggested that consciousness can directly control and manage all the physiological functions of the body. This idea explains why yogis control their heartbeat or body temperature as easily as we squeeze our fingers or close our eyes.
Stress and skin condition
Internal psycho-emotional stress is just as damaging to the skin as external stress is ultraviolet radiation and polluted environment, says biochemist Tom Mammon, head of research and development at Clinique Laboratories.
“Photographs of politicians can be a clear example of how stress affects the condition of the skin: the difference between the pictures before taking office and after the end of the election term is sometimes simply amazing. The results of our research have confirmed that psycho-emotional stress leads to a violation of the natural protective mechanisms of the skin.
Adrenaline and cortisol released by the body during stress lead to skin irritation and suppression of the immune system. The skin loses its ability to resist external aggression and repair damaged cells before they begin to divide. The result is rapid aging.
Part of this process can be prevented by using products that support skin protection. We managed to include in the formula of such a product components that minimize skin damage caused precisely by emotional and psychological stress – Superdefense SPF25 Age Defense Moisturiser was created according to this principle.
Learn to relax
So, a positive attitude – “if there is a way out of this situation, then I will definitely find it” – a very effective tool for raising immunity. When we give in to daily difficulties, our immune system turns on the “surrender mode” and ceases to resist external and internal aggressors.
But the “eternal struggle” is also destructive: entering into resonance with our way of thinking, the immune system is constantly working in force majeure mode, and this leads to its depletion. Common sense tells us that not all the unpleasant aspects of life can and should be overcome.
Effective Ways to Cope with Stress – Body and Mental Relaxation Techniques
Some of them just have to be accepted as they are. The essence of this “acceptance” is to stop experiencing excessive tension in relation to what does not give pleasure. Effective ways to cope with stress are physical and mental relaxation techniques that yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, as well as hobbies, sports and outdoor activities offer us.
Scientists are trying to uncover the connection between mental and physiological processes by studying the brain in a state of deep relaxation – for example, in the famous study of meditating Tibetan monks. But the experimental results here are one step ahead of scientific theories: in the “unscientific” branch of balneology, that is, in the spa industry, such a concept as a relaxation course to raise immunity has long appeared.