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Is There Scientific Evidence That Emotional Stress Weakens Our Immune Systems?


Question: It seems logical that emotional stress such as anger, resentment, guilt, grief, fear depression and the like would weaken our immune systems. Is there any scientific evidence for this?


Answer: Yes... lots. In fact, medicine is quite aware that these emotional stressors often create cascades of "negative chemistry" (my term) within our human bodies. For example, Adrenalin and Cortisol go out of balance AND countless other chemical reactions and repair mechanisms become seriously compromised. These emotions create quite a mess within and it is my experience that they are major contributors, if not THE causes, to our diseases.


This is also intuitive common sense and is born out by the numerous results and "Impossible" Healings that we have published on our website.


For the scientifically mlnded, here is an article on this topic from the American Psychological Association...


Stress Weakens the Immune System


Stressed out? Lonely or depressed? Don't be surprised if you come down with something. Psychologists in the field of "psychoneuroimmunology" have shown that state of mind affects one's state of health.


In the early 1980s, psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, and immunologist Ronald Glaser, PhD, of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, were intrigued by animal studies that linked stress and infection. From 1982 through 1992, these pioneer researchers studied medical students. Among other things, they found that the students' immunity went down every year under the simple stress of the three-day exam period. Test takers had fewer natural killer cells, which fight tumors and viral infections. They almost stopped producing immunity-boosting gamma interferon and infection-fighting T-cells responded only weakly to test-tube stimulation.


Those findings opened the floodgates of research. By 2004, Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, of the University of Kentucky, and Gregory Miller, PhD, of the University of British Columbia, had nearly 300 studies on stress and health to review. Their meta-analysis discerned intriguing patterns. Lab studies that stressed people for a few minutes found a burst of one type of "first responder" activity mixed with other signs of weakening. For stress of any significant duration - from a few days to a few months or years, as happens in real life - all aspects of immunity went downhill. Thus long-term or chronic stress, through too much wear and tear, can ravage the immune system.



e-hugs, Gary









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