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Stress Worsens Your Immune System
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
November 07 2001 | 2,282 views

Stress may make it easier for germs to infect skin wounds as researchers below proved.

Investigators created skin wounds in mice that were exposed to stressful living conditions. The researchers then applied Streptococcus bacteria to the wounds, and compared the healing rates of the stressed mice with those of mice with skin wounds that were also exposed to the bacteria but did not undergo the same levels of stress.

Mice that had been stressed out prior to wounding and infection showed a 30% delay in wound healing at 3 and 5 days compared with the mice that were not stressed, the report indicates.

In addition, the investigators found that after 5 days, the stressed mice had 100,000 times more opportunistic bacteria in their wounds than the non-stressed mice.

Seven days after the bacteria exposure, about 85% of the wounds in the stressed mice were infected, versus about 27% of the wounds in the non-stressed mice.

In this study, stress increased the rate of wound infection by threefold. Stress disrupts the body's equilibrium, in turn significantly impairing its ability to control and eradicate bacterial infection during wound healing.

The bottom line is that stress shuts down either the recruitment or the function of those immune cells needed to fight infection.

Research in humans has found that psychological stress can take a toll on the immune system by reducing the concentration of cytokines, proteins that help to ward off infections. In one study, skin wounds on the arms of women who had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol had lower levels of key compounds released by the body to mediate healing.

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity online 2001;10.1006


Dr. Mercola''s Comments
Dr. Mercola's Comments:
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I doubt that many would deny the relationship between stress and infection. However, I have been absolutely amazed at how effective bioenergetic normalization techniques can be for addressing this stress.

I have been using EFT since this summer and have been pushing the edges for what it can treat and to date I have been able to help four people remove all their cold and flu symptoms within a few minutes.

Symptoms like sneezing, coughing, nasal congestion and pressure and tightness in the chest are all gone and do not seem to return. This has been some of the most amazing effects in clinical medicine that I have ever witnessed and it has absolutely convinced me of the incredible influence that stress has on our health.

A common assignment that I give many patients in the midst of emotional stresses is to journal about their trauma for ten to fifteen minutes a day and then to burn the paper.

Previous studies have found this to be an enormously powerful, effective and inexpensive therapy option.

Related Articles:

Stress In Middle-Age Increases Diabetes Risk

Financial Stress Adds Burden To Terminal Illness

Stress From Violence, Disaster Can Linger for Years





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