Stress and the Immune System Tracy B
4 World Health • 47th Yeor, No. 2, Morch-Aprill994 Stress and the immune system Tracy B. Herbert any people have the effects of factors as diverse as experienced the examinations, bereavement, divorce, Mconnection between stress unemployment, mental arithmetic, and getting sick. Colds, influenza, and looking after a relative with herpes and allergies seem worse Alzheimer's di sease. In general, when we are severely stressed at these studies find that stress is work or in the home. Others are related to changes in both the never sick until they go on vacation numbers of white blood cells in (that is, after the stress is over), and circulation and the quantity of then they spend the whole time antibody in the blood. Moreover, fighting the virus. Because of stress is associated with changes in intrinsic connections like these, the functioning of immune cells. many researchers are today That is, there is a relatively large exploring whether (and how) stress decrease in both lymphocyte and illness are actually linked. One proliferation and natural killer cell specific focus of this research is to activity in individuals who have study the effects of stress on the experienced stress. There seems to immune systems; after all, if stress A lymphocyte: stress may weaken the capacity be some connection between the affects immunity, that would be one of lymphocytes to combat infection. duration of the stress and the amount way in which stress could contribute of immune change. For example, the to illness. longer the stress, the greater the The function of the immune proliferation"- by incubating these decrease in the number of specific system is to protect us from cells for several days with types of white blood cells.
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