Stress is an inevitable part of life. In short bursts, our stress response has evolved as a survival mechanism to help us be more alert in fight or flight situations.
But when stress is chronic, it weakens the immune system and makes us more vulnerable to illnesses such as the common cold, flu and COVID.
Stress makes it harder to fight off viruses
When the immune system starts to break down, a virus that would normally have been under control starts to flourish.
Once you begin to feel sick, the stress response rises, making it harder for the immune system to fight off the disease. You may be sick more often and for longer periods of time, without enough immune cells primed and ready to fight.
In the 1990s, American psychology professor Sheldon Cohen and his colleagues conducted a number of studies where healthy people were exposed to an upper respiratory infection, through drops of virus placed directly into their nose.
These participants were then quarantined in a hotel and monitored closely to determine who became ill.
One of the most important factors predicting who got sick was prolonged psychological stress.
Cortisol suppresses immunity
“Short-term stress” is stress that lasts for a period of minutes to hours, while “chronic stress” persists for several hours per day for weeks or months.
When faced with a perceived threat, psychological or physical, the hypothalamus region of the brain sets off an alarm system. This signals the release of a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.
In a typical stress response, cortisol levels quickly increase when stress occurs, and then rapidly drop back to normal once the stress has subsided. In the short term, cortisol suppresses inflammation, to ensure the body has enough energy available to respond to an immediate threat.
But in the longer term, chronic stress can be harmful. A Harvard University study from 2022 showed that people suffering from psychological distress in the lead up to their COVID infection had a greater chance of experiencing long COVID. They classified this distress as depression, probable anxiety, perceived stress, worry about COVID and loneliness.
Those suffering distress had close to a 50% greater risk of long COVID compared to other participants. Cortisol has been shown to be high in the most severe cases of COVID.
Stress causes inflammation
Inflammation is a short-term reaction to an injury or infection. It is responsible for trafficking immune cells in your body so the right cells are present in the right locations at the right times and at the right levels.
The immune cells also store a memory of that threat to respond faster and more effectively the next time.
Initially, circulating immune cells detect and flock to the site of infection. Messenger proteins, known as pro-inflammatory cytokines, are released by immune cells, to signal the danger and recruit help, and our immune system responds to neutralize the threat.
During this response to the infection, if the immune system produces too much of these inflammatory chemicals, it can trigger symptoms such as nasal congestion and runny nose.
What about chronic stress?
Chronic stress causes persistently high cortisol secretion, which remains high even in the absence of an immediate stressor.
The immune system becomes desensitised and unresponsive to this cortisol suppression, increasing low-grade “silent” inflammation and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (the messenger proteins).
Immune cells become exhausted and start to malfunction. The body loses the ability to turn down the inflammatory response.
Over time, the immune system changes the way it responds by reprogramming to a “low surveillance mode”. The immune system misses early opportunities to destroy threats, and the process of recovery can take longer.
So how can you manage your stress?
We can actively strengthen our immunity and natural defences by managing our stress levels. Rather than letting stress build up, try to address it early and frequently by:
1) Getting enough sleep
Getting enough sleep reduces cortisol levels and inflammation. During sleep, the immune system releases cytokines, which help fight infections and inflammation.
2) Taking regular exercise
Exercising helps the lymphatic system (which balances bodily fluids as part of the immune system) circulate and allows immune cells to monitor for threats, while sweating flushes toxins. Physical activity also lowers stress hormone levels through the release of positive brain signals.
3) Eating a healthy diet
Ensuring your diet contains enough nutrients – such as the B vitamins, and the full breadth of minerals like magnesium, iron and zinc – during times of stress has a positive impact on overall stress levels. Staying hydrated helps the body to flush out toxins.
4) Socializing and practicing meditation or mindfulness
These activities increase endorphins and serotonin, which improve mood and have anti-inflammatory effects. Breathing exercises and meditation stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms down our stress responses so we can “reset” and reduce cortisol levels.
Sathana Dushyanthen is an Academic Specialist & Lecturer in Cancer Sciences & Digital Health| Superstar of STEM| Science Communicator, The University of Melbourne.
The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
- External Link
- https://theconversation.com/im-feeling-run-down-why-am-i-more-likely-to-get-sick-and-how-can-i-boost-my-immune-system-237456
33 Comments
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Banthu
Easy...
1: sunshine
2: clean water
3: natural food
4: avoid anything processed, synthetic, artificial and or chemically manufactured, most especially by a big company.
Rule of thumb, if the product you are allowing into your body was made by a company with a market cap for more than 1 billion dollars, that product is bad for your health.
Hervé L'Eisa
Natural foods are quite an obvious choice. Processed foods contain chemicals that harm the body, and likewise have negative effects on the general health and of course the immune system. Injection of chemical compounds likewise.
Strangerland
Exercise.
Eastmann
as Banthu said.
in addition of that if you are vaccinated against covid-your chances to boost immune system are lower...just to add
Strangerland
Links to any respected medical organizations that have come to this conclusion? Or is this more podcast bro science?
Raw Beer
Yes, sun exposure has a number of health benefits in addition to vitD production.
virusrex
Fortunately the recommendations are nonsense and do not "boost" the immune system, else people following healthy lifestyles would be the most affected by autoimmune diseases because of this supposed boosting.
The fallacy of natural being healthier has been also debunked since a long time ago, nonsense.
virusrex
Completely false, just antivaxxer propaganda without any merit, in fact the opposite is correct since the infection is the one that come with immunosuppression thanks to the viral proteins made for such purpose that are not part of the vaccine.
wallace
Five years ago my immune system was weak after a cancer operation. My doctors advised delaying any COVID shots for for than one year. Which I did. I didn't do anything additional. Exercise, diet, and good sleep and slowly the strength of my immune system returns. The frightening part was my blood oxygen dropped to 85% but is now back to 96%.
Raw Beer
What?!! Autoimmune issues are not due to a stronger or boosted immune system, but rather the immune system reacting inappropriately. BTW, autoimmune problems are one of the many adverse effects of the shots...
It's true that natural does not automatically mean healthier, but many of today's health problems are cause by consuming unnatural products.
Blacklabel
Keeping the pipes cleaned out regularly is usually helpful.
wallace
A whole food high-fiber diet greatly improves toilet movement. I can testify to that. Also drinking sufficient water.
falseflagsteve
Wallace
Keep up the good work bruv.
One of the main issues in most of the first world is the large amount of snacks and unhealthy sugary drinks people consume without thinking about it.
Myself I have two meals a day breakfast/brunch and dinner in the evening. If I’m peckish I’ll have some fruit or a packet of sardines in tomato sauce, sometimes with a bit of salad cream. Try as much as possible to have packet food mind but my son and partner do more often.
Its ok having something a bit naughty like burger and chips 2 to 3 times a week but you can have problems when it becomes a daily thing.
virusrex
Yes they are that is what happens with an immune system that reacts more than normal as the "boosting" would result. More than normal is just another way to say inappropriately. The immune system is healthy only when working in a balanced way.
Which still makes it false to claim consuming natural things would cure all problems and artificial things always cause them. This claim is still false.
Zaphod
Strangerland
There are plenty of studies suggesting just this. For an in-depth explanation, check out Geert Vandenboshes lectures. As for that roundhouse "respected medical organizations" slogan, please pick the one you respect most, tell us what they say, and also tell us where the majority of their funding comes from. Thank you.
Zaphod
virusrex
Err what? So by inference darkness, dirty water, and unnatural food are good for you? The populations of Victorian era prisons must be blessed...
virusrex
No, there are none of such studies, that is again just fake propaganda that you were unable to produce no such studies (just baselessly claim they supposedly exist) clearly proves this was never true.
No evidence to refute the scientific consensus? then no value in the impossible global conspiracy you try to use as an excuse to contradict what the actual experts have said.
To what purpose? see how supposedly professional people end up repeatedly debunked and mistaken by making failed prophecies that never realized? this reference works much more against your claim that for it, it only shows that people have been terribly wrong by supporting this pseudoscience.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/doomsday-prophecy-dr-geert-vanden-bossche
Invalid inference, the part of the comment that you cut out clearly say that healthy lifestyles do not do "the opposite" of what you claimed, they just don't do what you said they do, which is fortunate because a boosted immunity would mean greatly increased rates of autoimmune diseases.
Zaphod
virusrex
That is a hamfisted simplifiation of what Vandenbossche has been saying. Instead of googling for an opinion piece that supports what you think, you might want to read the source instead.
Vandenbossche has been early, consistent and clear in his analysis.
What is that supposed to mean? The healthier the body, the better the immune system. Sunlight, clean water, and natural food support a healthy body, aka a healthy immune system. Is common sense such a hard concept?
virusrex
He made predictions that were wrong over and over again, in fact the opposite of what he said would happen actually happened, there is no defense about it, he was so wrong that was even accused of being a pharma shill purposefully making wrong predictions to make antivaxxers look bad.
And wrong, completely wrong. Which was easy to see even from 2021. He is not considered a serious professional because of his systematic bias, how he pretended to ignore the available evidence and specially because everything he said would happen did not.
Boosting the immune system do not make it better, it makes it worse. Because the actual healthy immune system requires balance and as much inhibition as activation. Claiming otherwise is nonsensical.
The experts have been explaining this fallacy since a long time ago
https://www.news-medical.net/health/Mythbusting-Boosting-Your-Immune-System.aspx
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/boosting-your-immune-system.html
https://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/a33299126/boosting-immunity-is-a-dangerous-myth/
“Boosting your immune system is a dangerous, ill-conceived concept and probably not even possible,”
You actually don't want your immune system to be stronger, you want it to be balanced."
Raw Beer
Yeah, that thing that nobody said is indeed false.
Yeah, virusrex likes to use McGill's OSS as a source; it's basically a guy with a Master's parroting the pharma narrative.
BTW, when we talk about boosting the immune system, we referring to bringing it up to healthy levels, we're not aiming for a cytokine storm.
virusrex
This original claim
Is still completely false. Just the same old natural fallacy.
You make not even an effort to refute any of the arguments that prove the point. None of which depend on credentials, pretending it does is just an excuse not to address the many perfectly valid reasons that prove how wrong Vanderbossche has been, continuously, unashamedly, repeatedly, to the point of getting a horrible reputation even between antiscience propaganda groups.
And as the reference prove, that is still nonsense, not only because boosting do not mean what you though it mean, but because it the measures don't work that way and that boosting is still contrary to balancing, which is the actual thing that makes immunity healthy or not.
virusrex
You want something actually compromises immunity? covid
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/the-long-covid-puzzle-autoimmunity-inflammation-and-other-possible-causes
On this, vaccinating against covid would be the actual effective measure to avoid autoimmune problems.
quercetum
Leave earlier and take the local train. Don't be seduced by the Special Express 特急 and end up one of many sardines. Take a seat and beat the heat.
Wick's pencil
Good rule of thumb. Strange how some people seem to specifically seek those products.
virusrex
Following a discarded idea that has been debunked since a long time ago is not a good rule of thumb, natural is not the same as healthy, nor something produced by humans is automatically bad for your health.
This mistaken idea has serious consequences and people die for mistakenly believing it. It is deeply irresponsible to mislead others into thinking this is in any way something good to consider.
Garthgoyle
Probably doing overtime every single day of the week, combined with a cup-ramen diet is not the healthiest way to go on.
A very good way to stay healthy, and this is more Japan specific, get a monthly pass at your local onsen. Sauna 4 at least 4 times a week, combined with a healthy (ish) diet, sleeping well and staying at least somehow active makes a huge difference.
wallace
A good start is a health check and a full blood test.
ian
One way to lessen stress is to lessen internet time ruminating on conspiracy theories
ian
And internet in general.
Better invest the time saved on walking or jogging or any exercise appropriate for yourselves
DatAss
Cope and seethe!
Wick's pencil
I see, so we should all avoid the next boosters. Good advice.
virusrex
The boosters are not (as the pseudoscientific recommendations say will do) boost the immunity in general, they are meant to increase the specific response against one single pathogen, that is too obviously a very different thing, no indiscriminate elevation of citokyne action, or inflammation, etc. Instead just the activation against one specific pathogen.
And as proved by the reference this means LESS risk of autoimmune problems since covid has been proved to be the cause of those, so a vaccine or a booster reduces that risk.
Zaphod
The Florida State Surgeon General advises against the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. However, they do recommend:
• Staying physically active,
• Minimizing processed foods,*
• Prioritizing vegetables and healthy fats, and *• Spending time outdoors to support necessary vitamin D levels.
Spot on! But I suppose the Florida Department of Health is not a "respected authority" as far as the pharma industry is concerned...