Chronic Stress and the Immune System

Nov. 5, 2002 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study shows chronic stress not only makes people more vulnerable to diseases, but it can also impair their immune system's ability to respond to its own anti-inflammatory signals, possibly altering the course of an inflammatory disease.

Chronic stress seems to impair the immune system's ability to respond to glucocorticoid hormones. These hormones are responsible for stopping an inflammatory response following infection and/or injury. To examine what happens to people's immune systems during on-going stressful situations, researchers from Washington University compared 25 parents of children undergoing cancer treatment to 25 parents of healthy children. Researchers measured mental health, effects of social support and immune system responses.

Parents of cancer patients reported more psychological distress than parents with healthy children and were found to have diminished glucocorticoid sensitivity. Glucocorticoid is responsible for turning off the in vitro production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1B, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor. However, researchers also found that social support lessened the immunologic consequences of caring for a child with cancer.

Gregory E. Miller, Ph.D., from Washington University, says, "These findings suggest a novel mechanism through which psychological stress could influence the onset and/or progression of conditions that involve excessive inflammation, like allergic, autoimmune, cardiovascular, infectious and rheumatologic illnesses." Even though cancer patient parents reported more depressive symptoms, depression does not seem to operate as a mediator. It could be that anxiety, intrusive thoughts, feelings of helplessness, and lack of sleep may influence the stress-related reductions in glucocorticoid hormones.

SOURCE: Health Psychology, 2002; 21:531-541

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