Does Stress Damage The Immune System

It is a common assumption that excessive stress can lead to an increased susceptibility to everyday colds and flu's. Does this indicate that stress has compromised the immune system and made the body more susceptible to these common ailments and potentially more serious illnesses ? This article will define what the immune system is, the kinds of effects that stress has on the immune system and how this translates to the individuals health.

The immune system is a complex set of systems that work together to detect, identify and destroy pathogens that may be entering the body. A pathogen is any infectious agent that can cause disease or illness to the body. Common forms of pathogens are :

bacteria like salmonella,

viruses like herpes,

protozoa like plasmodium (malaria),

fungi like tinea (ringworm),

parasites like roundworm

proteins like prion.

At an organism level, the skin is the bodies first defence against such agents. On a cellular level there are 3 responses to pathogens. The first is cell-mediated immunity. This involves T-cells (white bloods cells) that attack the pathogens that enter the body. The second is called humoral or antibody-mediated immunity where cells make antibodies in response to pathogens. The third approach is to allow so called good bacteria that lives within the body to deal with the pathogen.

It is thought that stress in a limited way is good for the immune system. Stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are believed to increase the blood flow to the body. This will affect the skin to make it more responsive to potential attack. On a cellular level, it is thought that these hormones will cause the increased production of the cells used to fight pathogens. So there will be an increase in the number of white blood cells and plasma which are used to fight potential infections and heal cuts and wounds. So in a sudden instance of a stressful event like a car crash, the bodies immune system is put on high alert and responds to the situation.

This is good and well for the body but the problem arises when this sudden stress becomes persistent or chronic stress. Chronic stress is stress that goes unrelieved either because the person cannot deal with the stress or is not aware of it as a problem. The immune system is put on high alert for long and continuous periods. This can alter the fine balance of chemicals in the body that create white blood cells or produce antibody producing cells.

This imbalance can have two affects on the body. Notably the immune system will start destroying other parts of the organism, known as autoimmunity, because there are too many pathogen-destroying cells in the body. The other outcome of an imbalance in the immune system is that the body becomes unresponsive when pathogens do enter the body because it has become accustomed to a higher level of pathogen destroying cells in the body.

This can have a variety of outcomes on the health of the individual. If, for instance the increase in T-cells caused the immune system to attack the so-called good bacteria and destroy it, this might make the body susceptible to illnesses that the good bacteria would have fought against. If the immune system became unresponsive, the body would become ill without the immune system trying to prevent it.

Stress in short doses is an inevitable part of life. The body has developed so that systems, like the immune system, can respond to these stresses. The body cannot adapt to chronic stress however, and this can cause biochemical changes to the immune system that limits it's ability to fight illness. In short, limited stress is ok for the immune system. Chronic stress should be avoided or a strategy should be put in place to manage this stress.

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