Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Effect of Stress on the immune System

A person’s overall life situation influences when a disorder first develops and the nature, duration, and prognosis of that disorder.

The link between stress and physical illness involves diseases (like colds) that are not directly related to nervous system activity. This suggest that stress may cause an overall vulnerability to disease by compromising immune functioning.

Early studies that examined the association between stress and immune functioning rapidly established an association between stressful circumstances (like medical exams) and diminished immune reactivity. Such diminished immune reactivity would make a person more susceptible to infections.

Although individuals may react differently to stress, stress does have the ability of suppressing the immune system thereby leaving one vulnerable to an attack.

The word immune comes for the Latin word “immunis” meaning “exempt”. The immune system protects the body against such things as viruses and bacteria. If the immune system is too weak it cannot function effectively and the body succumbs to damage from invading viruses and bacteria.

In the same way, if the immune system is too strong and unselective, it can turn on its own normal sells. This is the cause for autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

The white blood cells are at the front line of the immune system defense. Those cells are produced in the bone marrow and then stored in various places throughout the body, such as the spleen, and the lymph nodes.

Read more: http://healthmad.com/mental-health/the-effect-of-stress-on-the-immune-system/#ixzz1FTUNc5Ow

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