Researchers have been able to reveal the connection between stressful situations and a decrease in the activity of the immune system and increased exposure to diseases. The culprit: the cortisol hormone
In 1955, Henry Beecher combined the results of 15 clinical drug trials, and came to a conclusion that shocked the medical world. Out of 1,082 patients, over a third recovered from their illnesses after receiving - no more and no less - a sugar pill. Beecher coined the term placebo, which is still used today to explain how people can get well from treatments that have never been scientifically proven to be effective, such as homeopathy and healing. Many claim that the placebo effect represents the close connection between the brain and the body, and that the very belief in the power of the drug causes the body to begin the self-healing process.
Although the exact mechanism by which the placebo affects the body has not yet been discovered, it is now known that stress and anxiety can damage the functioning of the immune system. The body's white blood cells are an important part of fighting infections from the outside and cancer from the inside, but the DNA of each cell contains internal 'stopwatches' called telomeres. The telomeres shorten with each division, and when they become too short, the cell is unable to continue dividing and the activity of the immune system decreases.
The white blood cells contain an enzyme called telomerase, which is able to 'reset' the stopwatch and lengthen the telomeres. In situations of stress and strain, the activity of the enzyme decreases in the white blood cells, and as a result, their ability to divide and fight the dangers inherent in the body is also impaired. If this situation continues for a long time, the cells may age and die.
In a study published in May 2008, researchers from the University of California Los Angeles were able to establish the exact mechanism by which mood affects telomerase and the immune system. The researchers were able to show that there is a direct relationship between the activity level of telomerase and the cortisol level around the cells. Cortisol is a hormone that is released into the blood under stressful conditions, and it turns out that it is also capable of suppressing the immune system.
"When the body is under stressful conditions, it increases the production of cortisol to support the 'flight or bite' response," explained Rita B. Afros, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. "But if the hormone remains at a high level in the bloodstream for a long period of time, it can suppress the immune system."
The research explains why people under mental stress are more vulnerable to diseases. It can also explain why people who go to non-conventional medical treatments, such as healing, homeopathy and the like, find relief for their ailments. Even if the treatment itself is not effective, it provides the patient with a sense of security that conventional medicine does not always provide, thus causing an exit from the cycle of stress that leads to the secretion of cortisol.
The results of the research may form the basis of a new class of drugs. "We are testing therapeutic ways to increase telomerase levels, in order to help the immune system defend itself against the effect of cortisol." Afros said. "If we succeed, it is possible that one day there will be a pill that will strengthen the immune system's ability to withstand chronic emotional stress."
The study was published last May in the scientific journal 'Brain, Behavior and Immunity'. The main writer is Jenny Choi, and Steven R. Faus and Rita b. Afros
10 תגובות
You forgot to add that you are 12 years old 🙂
If you had asked me even 20 years ago, I would have told you this
I'm robbed of that all I think about after a few years
I see an article about it and it makes me laugh
Thank you and beautiful toffee...
The whipping is the cellulite.. just kidding?
- I'm curious, let me know
- Don't be a child...sit quietly!
- Well, okay, I don't have anything to do? Is there a Bamba?
The first h:
Thanks.
I loved the phrase "on everything you tread on" 🙂
Sometimes there are phrases that just do it to me.
For example, the phrase "the turning shadow" in the song "Return to the Orchard" or the phrase about people who are "absorbed in the alleys" in a song I once heard on the radio and I remember its name (it's about people who move away from the viewer towards the city and are gradually swallowed up by it).
Richard Bach wrote several books involving poetic writing and ideas drawn from the spirit of science and pseudoscience.
The Seagull is pure poetic writing.
The book "Bridge Over and Over" is something in the middle and the book "Ahad" already refers to Everett's multiple worlds (of course - not scientifically).
I read another book of his that I don't remember the name of.
His books are interesting because they are not philosophy books and they are not exactly story books and they leave a feeling of pure beauty.
Regarding Qantas' singing - I agree with the analysis (well, it's easy for me to agree), but here and there (which Ari referred to) there is also a little whiplash (that's why Ari said "a little").
Michael, I support you - I see you have a mind, which is a bit hard to say about the majority of the human race.
Good luck with everything you do.
If someone asks, say you have permission from Booga.
This is the most valuable type of approval - not a raider!
There is increasing natural selection against intelligence, and so will the future of children (yours, I don't) look like.
Richard Bach I've only read Jonathan (The Seagull)…
Call me primitive, call me Strawberry Prilly,
But don't call me to make food, make it yourself, bring me a take awwwwwwww...
In any case, as I was worried, this may be what has been causing my skin problems for years (or maybe it's OCD) so it's good to think about trying to counteract the cortisol somehow, in order to fail and bang my head against the wall as I thought it would work and it didn't. Sure not. Why is that guy over there doing someone a favor? In my face! @@
And by the way, it seems to me that I quite understood large parts of Qantas' poetry...
I don't think there are any downfalls about Michael here.. This is a mix of a praise song to him and to his enlightened responses in a drugged style, somewhat in a somewhat hyper way 🙂
You see - every song has an author, and every author has what is called a state of mind
Read the author, then the poem!
(As if I know the man in the wall... well. Enough singing!)
lion:
I know, but I find no point in commenting, especially if you don't bother to put things in an understandable way
I think they got a little down on you
I also liked Richard Bach's books so even though I didn't understand the rest of the response (including the points) I agree with this recommendation even though it has nothing to do with the article
Zafra Taba to you, a developed mind ..and developing..
It's all a matter of character... and the effect... of the placebo... and... the telomerase... (2
"Michael the high priest minister and guardian over Israel.."
it came to pass…
the end of days…
And you will go to me..from people..and from people..ha
And the people of the country..fools..will consider us..and judge..
And no..he knew his place..what it was.
And I won't know my name...
Because, my Michael..
that the keeper of Israel is..
Did he also..go to perdition?.?..(Philip Pullman)
Ikha..his questions??…from Igra Drama..
It was not enough...
and look at me in the night sky,
As... the way of "my father"... (in order to find us)...
And.. here.. on the website.. articles.. articles.. comments.. and comments..
Blue on the surface of the sea.. like the blue of the sky..
About suns and galaxies..
About holes and doubts..
on judges and morality
About the wits.. and mistakes..
And even..about..cellulitis..jokingly..
And suddenly.. the key to the conussess...
הבינותי…הכל…?0!2 3#92………………………?111111
And if... God wills...
Qantas in possession…..will be back!…….
All the best..
Tuesday twice that good.
Inspired by, the star, the instigator, let there be the cosmo-logistic 800.
20.02.1955 Shevat.. in the Judges.. Tashto... 01.15 ZAXNUMX
Thank you, Yochi Brands...underground...our own!
Thank you, Richard Bach.. on a bridge above and beyond..
The development they are engaged in is very important because the more educated and understood the person is, the less the placebo affects him and this creates selective pressure against intelligence.
If a telomerase-stimulating substance is added to any drug, the placebo effect will be achieved in addition to the normal effect of the drug without the need for faith.