The Immune System

How does stress affect the immune system?
      Our textbook talks about a few different theories that explain the effect stress has on the immune system. One of these is the General Adaptation Syndrome. The GAS includes 3 stages. The first is the alarm stage in which the body is more vulnerable to disease or injury because the body is geared up to deal with a stressful situation. The next stage is the resistance stage. With continued stress, the body develops a new level of homeostasis to better handle normal life and normal stress. The final stage is the exhaustion stage in which the body experiences a life-threatening type of exhaustion due to the amount of energy required to deal with the first two stages. As time has passed, this theory has proved to be a little outdated. The Allostatic Load, another theory on stress and the immune system, states that the susceptibility to disease is actually due to the effects of the stress response and not to exhaustion. Long term exposure to stress hormones has been linked to health problems. Also, although the resistance stage promotes homeostasis, it has negative effects on the body. The last theory mentioned in the book is called psychoneuroimmunology. This studies the interactions of the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system. The main idea is that stress, through the actions of the nervous and endocrine systems, impairs the immune system and therefore affects health.
         A study was conducted with people who had been hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The study was showing the affects of stress on these patients and how discharged patients who experienced stress were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital. Those conducting the study monitored patients who had been hospitalized for ACS and had them record the instances in which they felt stress over a two week period. Those who reported having high stress were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of their original discharge date than those who reported low stress levels.
      From the information in the textbook and the study found, it is clear that stress definitely affect the immune system in a negative way. The more stress we have, the more our immune system suffers and the more likely we are to get sick.

Edmondson, Donald, et al. "Psychological Stress And 30-Day All-Cause Hospital Readmission In Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: An Observational Cohort Study." Plos ONE 9.3 (2014): 1-4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

"Stress: The Constant Challenge." Health Education/Fitness. 12th ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012. 28-30. Print.