Stress affects immune system
A common feature of stress is feeling run down. Asthmatics may find they wheeze more, and those with allergies may find themselves sneezing or itching. Now, Swedish research suggests that there is a biological basis for this, and that stress can indeed increase allergic reactions by suppressing the immune system. The study, from Sweden's Karolinska Institute, links mental stress and inflammation reactions, characteristic of allergies. The researchers investigated the responses of stress on stress hormone levels, the immune system and lung function in two groups of students - one without and one with allergies - ranging from eczema, asthma and hay fever. The results, published in the journal Clinical Experimental Allergy, show that T cells - known to regulate immune responses - increase in number in response to mental stress. This increase was observed in both groups of students. In the group of students with allergies, blood concentrations cytokines - inflammation products - triggered a pattern of allergic reactions, which did not occur in healthy students. 'There is much to suggest that the regulatory T cells are dysfunctional in people with allergies,' said researcher Mats Lekander. 'When people become stressed, they [T cells] increase in number and normally have an anti-inflammatory effect. If this system does not work in people with allergies, it could explain the changed cytokine balance that we have observed in them,' he said. While this new research does not provide an effective cure for allergies, it may gives clues as to where more effective treatments may be found - and even that effective methods of relaxation, such as meditation, may be effective in reducing allergic reactions.
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Sweden