Immune System
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Phone counseling improves quality of life, immune systems of cervical cancer survivors
A unique telephone-counseling intervention not only improved the quality of life for cervical cancer survivors but also altered associated stress-related effects on their immune systems, a UC Irvine study has found. Along with reporting psychological and social benefits, the women in the study were found to have improved anti-tumor immune responses. The findings point to the importance of a “mind-body” connection for surviving cancer with a higher quality of life.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Stress May Increase a Woman’s Risk of Developing Cervical Cancer
A woman’s daily stress can reduce her ability to fight off a common sexually transmitted disease and increase her risk of developing the cancer it can cause, according to a new study. No such association is seen, however, between past major life events, such as divorce or job loss, and the body’s response to the infection.
Cancer • Immune System • Stress • Women • (0) Comments • Permalink
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Role of Stress in Just About Everything
You live in a majorly stressed out world. You’re never very far from a ringing cell phone or a guilt-inducing laptop. Traffic makes you flip out. And as if stressing out over lines, health, your job, your grades, or global terrorism wasn’t enough, along comes the APS Observer with one more thing in your life to stress out over: Stress.
Anxiety • Brain • Cardiovascular Health • Emotions • Genetics • Hormones • Immune System • Optimism • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Happy? It may help keep you healthy
A happy heart just might be a healthier one as well, new research suggests. In a study of nearly 3,000 healthy British adults, led by Dr. Andrew Steptoe of University College London, found that those who reported upbeat moods had lower levels of cortisol — a “stress” hormone that, when chronically elevated, may contribute to high blood pressure, abdominal obesity and dampened immune function, among other problems.
Hormones • Hypertension • Immune System • Obesity • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Downtime: It’s Enough to Make Some People Sick
Some Research Suggests Illness Goes Up When the Stress of Work Goes Down. Skeptics Are Immune to This Theory.
Burnout • Health at Work • Hormones • Immune System • Productivity/Performance • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Genes Get Lonely Too
A study out this week suggests that loneliness actually changes how the body functions at a molecular level. The research links feelings of social isolation to an alteration in the activity of specific genes—ones that put lonely people at higher risk for serious disease. And the study also points to the startling fact that it is the perception of loneliness that triggers the adverse health conditions, independent of how much social interaction an individual actually has.
Genetics • Immune System • Relationships • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Friday, August 17, 2007
New Research Shows How Chronic Stress Worsens Neurogenerative Disease Course
The evidence is accumulating on how bad stress is for health. Chronic stress can intensify inflammation and increase a person’s risk for developing central nervous system infections, neurodegenerative diseases, like multiple sclerosis (MS), and other inflammatory diseases, say researchers. These researchers have demonstrated for the first time that stress-related increases in central nervous system inflammation are behind the adverse effects of stress in an animal model of MS.
Brain • Immune System • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Controlling Stress Helps Fight Chronic Diseases Such As Lupus
A study conducted in the Department of Medicine at the University of Granada determined that daily stress (which occurs in circumstances of little importance but of high frequency) could exacerbate the symptoms of patients suffering from lupus. In other words, controlling the stress level of those suffering from this disease allows the determination of its negative effects, such as inexplicable loss of weight, feeling of fatigue, continuous fever or pain and inflammation in joints.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
HeartMath’s emWave Personal Stress Reliever
Our emWave Personal Stress Reliever is on sale until the end of the April for $20.00 off. If you’re interested in realtime stress reduction and peak performance, please take a look at the two-minute demo.
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Anger linked to illness
It’s obvious that feelings of anger and frustration negatively affect psychological health, and that care and compassion do the opposite. Not so well known are the studies over the last decade or so which have shown that the same is true of our physical health—specifically, resistance to disease.
Anger • HeartMath • Immune System • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Friday, April 06, 2007
Stress Increases Inflammation in Pregnancy, Putting Women at Risk
A new study shows that women who report high levels of stress and low social support during pregnancy are more likely to have increased immune system activity, which can trigger inflammatory responses and put them at risk for premature labor and preeclampsia. These inflammatory immune system responses involve increases in two proteins — cytokines and C-reactive protein (CRP).
Psychosocial stress increases inflammatory markers and alters cytokine production across pregnancy.
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 21(3), 2007
Immune System • Reproduction • Stress • Women • (1) Comments • Permalink
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Children Under Stress Develop More Fevers
Children whose parents and families are under ongoing stress have more fevers with illness than other children. Published this month in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the study also shows the unanticipated conclusion that children’s natural killer cell function, part of the body’s innate immune system, increases under chronic stress, unlike adults, whose function is decreased.
Children • Immune System • Parenting • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Evidence mounts that coping skills can boost HIV survival
HIV patients live longer if they face stress by venting their feelings, taking a realistic view of threats to their health and keeping a sense of self-worth, a study suggested over the weekend.
The findings add to growing evidence that how HIV-positive patients cope with their trauma can affect how rapidly the disease progresses.
Emotions • Immune System • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Children under stress develop more fevers
Children whose parents and families are under ongoing stress have more fevers with illness than other children. Published this month in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the study also shows the unanticipated conclusion that children’s natural killer cell function, part of the body’s innate immune system, increases under chronic stress, unlike adults, whose function is decreased.
Children • Immune System • Parenting • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky discusses stress
\Why do humans and their primate cousins get more stress-related diseases than any other member of the animal kingdom? The answer, says Stanford University neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky, is that people, apes and monkeys are highly intelligent, social creatures with far too much spare time on their hands.
Hormones • Immune System • Stress • (0) Comments • Permalink