Viruses Sickened Only 27-47% of This Test Population Depending on Their Stress Levels
In a previous blog, I shared research linking our emotions and judgments to our physical sensations. But did you know that physical and psychological stress load in our body is associated with an...
www.rayarmat.com
In a previous blog, I shared research linking our emotions and judgments to our physical sensations. But did you know that physical and psychological stress load in our body is associated with an increased risk of acute infectious respiratory illness by cold and coronaviruses?
According to research published in 1991 by Sheldon Cohen, when people were given nasal drops containing one of five respiratory cold or influenza viruses (such as Coronavirus type 229E) not everyone developed a symptomatic cold. Incidence of clinical colds among those infected ranged from 27% to 47%, the risk found to be associated with the level of chronic physical and psychological (perceived) stress.
In more recent publications, Cohen has found factors associated with greater risk of respiratory illnesses after virus exposure including smoking, ingesting an inadequate level of vitamin C, and chronic psychological stress. Those associated with decreased risk included social integration, social support, physical activity, adequate and efficient sleep, and moderate alcohol intake. Cohen cautiously suggests that his findings could have implications for identifying who becomes ill when exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Our immune, neurologic, and psychological systems are closely intertwined. Scientists such as Cohen now argue that prolonged (perceived) stress alters the effectiveness of cortisol (stress hormone) to regulate our body’s inflammatory response because it decreases tissue sensitivity to the hormone. The scientific term for this is glucocorticoid receptor resistance. People who are regularly less able to regulate their inflammatory response, produce more of inflammation-inducing cytokines (chemical messengers) and suffer from more severe symptoms when exposed to viruses and pathogens. In fact, research has confirmed that Chronic excessive glucocorticoid exposure affects both innate and adaptive immune responses to infective states.
Other research by Cohen has shown that chronic stress, lasting a month or more, affected the risk of catching a cold and that two causes of stress – being unemployed or underemployed, or having interpersonal difficulties with relatives or friends – had the greatest influence on risk. Cohen has also reported that people with the most ties to relatives, friends and community were the least likely to catch a cold. The relationship between having many social connections and being relatively immune to colds held even though cold viruses spread easily among people. Although this finding would seem counterintuitive, Dr. Cohen said that other researchers also have found that “having many different kinds of social relationships helps to protect against disease.”