In a modern, fast-paced life, many wrongly believe that stress is too high to affect immune functions and the risk of infection. They feel that stress is just a psychological feeling and is not directly related to the physical defence mechanisms of the body. However, this perception is totally wrong, and the pressure actually has a profound and unnegligible impact on the immune function, thereby significantly changing the risk of infection in an individual.
When the human body is under stress, it triggers stress, whether it comes from work stress, life changes, or long-term mental anxiety. This reaction is mainly guided by the synergetic nervous system and the hypothalamus – peri-adrenal (HPA) axis. In stress, the HPA axis was activated, which contributed to adrenal cortex genre to stress hormones such as cortex. In the short term, cortisol helps the body cope with stress by increasing blood sugar levels and providing additional energy to the body, while at the same time inhibiting non-critical physiological functions, such as digestion, reproduction, etc., in order to allocate more resources to coping with stress sources. However, long-term or excessive pressure can lead to continued high levels of cortisol, which has a severe inhibition effect on the immune system.
All types of immune cells in the immune system are affected by cortisol. For example, the activity of lymphocytes in white cells, including T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, is weakened in high cortical ethanol environments. T lymphocytes play a key role in cell immunity by identifying and attacking cells infected by pathogens and cancer cells. When cortisol inhibits the activity of T lymphocytes, the body is less resilient to viral infections and tumors. B lymphocytes are responsible for the production of antibodies, which are an important weapon of body fluid immunization and can be uniquely integrated with pathogens to facilitate their removal. But in a state of high cortisol due to stress, B lymphocytes’ proliferation and anti-generic function is also hampered, preventing the body from producing timely and effective immune responses in the face of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens.
In addition, pressure affects the distribution of immunocellular cells in the body. Studies have found a relative decrease in the number of immunocellular cells in the outer peripheral blood of people who have been under pressure for a long time, while more amunecular cells are concentrated in the central organs of the body, such as the heart, lungs, etc. This distribution appears to be a body that protects vital organs, but actually weakens the defence of the first immune line of the outer rims, such as skin, respiratory mucous membranes, etc. Skin and mucous membranes are natural barriers that prevent pathogens from entering the human body, and when their local immune function is reduced, pathogens are more likely to break through the line and enter the body to cause infection. For example, during periods of heightened stress, people are more vulnerable to respiratory infections such as flu and influenza, which is due to the erosion of the immune defence of respiratory mucous membranes, which makes it easier for pathogens such as influenza viruses to enter upper-respiratory skin cells and cause infection.
From the point of view of psycho-neurological immunology, stress can also affect the immune system through signal molecules such as neurotransmitters and neural beryllium. For example, in a state of stress, the sensory nervous system releases adrenaline, which can be combined with receptors on the surface of the immunocellular cell and regulates the function of the immunocell. At the same time, some neurobeams, like P, are involved in the process of stress regulation of the immune system. The complex interaction of these neurotransmitters and neural beryllium further disrupts the normal balance of the immune system and increases the risk of infection.
Stress is not merely a psychological phenomenon, but has a real negative impact on the immune function, which in turn significantly increases the risk of infection. In our daily lives, we should focus on stress management, reducing stress through reasonable means, such as physical exercise, meditation and good social support, maintaining the normal functioning of the immune system and reducing the likelihood of infection, thus safeguarding health.
