Optimal Health Newsletter #6 -

Stress and Immune Function

This was originally written near the end of the holiday season. The subject of 'stress' is ongoing, however, so ignore the reference to date - the subject matter is relevant no matter what time of year.

   Since we are wrapping up the holidays and entering a new year, I thought that the issue of ‘stress’ would be timely, since just about everyone ends up being stressed out in some way by the holiday season. Stress is a huge factor in health. Chronic stress is something that our ancestors didn’t have to deal with. They either got away from the Sabertooth Tiger, or they got eaten; they didn’t get chased around the tree faster and faster, month after month, year after year. Although our distant ancestors had enormous problems to deal with just to survive (Paleolithic lifespan was probably not much past adolescence), chronic stress was not one of the problems. Our bodies have evolved able to respond effectively to acute stress; the ‘flight or fight’ type of situations. But the adaptive physiologic responses of our ancestors are, in general, inappropriate for the types of stressors that exist in modern civilization.

   In the human body, the main stress response comes from the hormones and substances secreted by the adrenal glands. These adrenergic compounds (adrenaline, dopamine, and others) put us in a high state of alertness and strength, able to respond quickly and powerfully to dangerous situations. Besides these adrenergic substances, another hormone, cortisol, is secreted by the adrenal glands in increased amounts. When the stress response is protracted over a long period, the effects that are valuable in the short term become harmful to healthy survival. Increased secretion of cortisol, in particular, significantly depresses the function of the immune system. A decline in immune function, extended over a protracted period of time, can make the body more vulnerable to things that ‘don’t belong’. Of particular importance, a decline in immune function leaves us more vulnerable to both acute and chronic infections and an impaired ability to eliminate the early abnormal cells that can progress to cancer.

   Above all, the main thing to realize about the immune system is its importance. It is the‘national defense system’ of our body. I sometimes make the (loose) analogy to the Roman Empire and the legions on the frontier. As long as those legions were strong and could keep out the Barbarians the empire flourished and Rome was strong, safe, and prosperous. When the legions on the frontier were weakened, the Barbarians were able to invade the perimeter of the empire, and eventually, along came Attila and Rome is sacked, the empire is ruined, and the Dark Ages began. (my apologies to the historians reading this, I know what you’re thinking).

When we are talking about optimal health, we are in many respects talking prevention. As mentioned above, the entire purpose of our immune system is to prevent the invasion of the body by infections or other things that ‘don’t belong’ (from splinters to mutated cells).

   If we keep our immune system strong we will have fewer health problems to deal with. That’s the basic point.

   The next point brings me back to the subject of the holidays and stress. In my mind, the single item that most adversely affects our immune system is chronic stress. Almost always, when immune function testing is abnormally low, there is a history of significant stress in the affected individual. We have always known that ‘stress is not good for health’, but now we have the ability to measure the effects by sophisticated laboratory testing. Over and over again, grandma’s advice’ is proven by science to be valid.

   The take-home point of this is for each of you to realize the importance of keeping the stress in your life as low and manageable as possible. By recognizing the importance to your health of limiting stress you can take measures to reduce it and/or deal with it. I will discuss specific measures in a future OHN, but everyone knows things they can do to reduce stress in their own life. Have some fun each day, play with the dog, lighten up, go to bed earlier, etc., etc. We want to be around as long as possible, and in good health. So…make a resolution to keep your bodies defenses stronger by reducing the stress in your life.

   There is a wonderful book that goes much more deeply into this subject. It is called 'Why Zebras don't get ulcers' by Robert Sapolsky. I highly recommend this book if this is a subject of interest to you.

Best regards,