A similar response has been documented among medical students. A 1995 study showed that the students who reported “feeling stressed” the most during exam periods also had the highest levels of molecules with immunosuppressant characteristics.
Stress makes it easier to get sick
There is also direct evidence that stress can increase risk of infection. For instance, a group of scientists in Spain used surveys to assess stress in 1,149 people for a year and then measured how many colds occurred within the group. They found that every dimension of stress they measured was associated with an increased risk for getting the common cold. While this study’s large sample size and design make it particularly noteworthy, the relationship between colds and stress has been reported since the 1960s.
More recently, we presented a study that calculated allostatic load scores in over 10,000 people that were a part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2002. We searched for associations between those allostatic load scores and the likelihood of having reported symptoms of a communicable disease, like the common cold. We found that the higher the score, the more likely an individual was to have reported symptoms of illness.
While causality cannot be completely confirmed in the type of analysis we conducted, our calculations included multiple biological and clinical markers that would not likely have been significantly impacted by short-term illnesses alone. This suggests that the correlation between allostatic load score and disease symptoms was not simply due to the stress of having an illness.
Our results mirror what is generally accepted in the field. There are whole book chapters dedicated to describing the impacts of stress and infection risk. All this evidence seems to suggest that stress reduction might lead to a healthier cold and flu season.
A prescription for relaxation
While there are medications that can treat the flu, the latest evidence suggests they are only marginally effective at relieving symptoms and may have no impact on reducing the rate of hospitalizations. And Vitamin C, which is often touted as an over-the-counter cold remedy, has little impact on the incidence of the common cold according to the latest compilation of studies from the Cochrane Collaboration, an independent network of scientific researchers.
So keeping stress at bay might be a better bet for staying healthy. But besides just remembering to take deep breaths, participating in activities to reduce stress during the winter months has been shown to help reduce the burden of respiratory illnesses. This may include making good on that New Year’s resolution to get to the gym. In fact, a recent randomized controlled trial concluded that those who exercised or meditated had fewer severe acute respiratory illnesses than did a control group that did neither.
It may also help to talk to somebody, such as your physician or a psychologist, about techniques to manage stress. In a clinical trial done with children between the ages of 8-12, those who talked with therapists about relaxation management had improved mood and decreased frequency of colds. On a cellular level, those in the therapist group had increased levels of secretory immunoglobulin A, one of the molecules that is responsible for protecting mucosal surfaces, like the lung, from infection. These types of relaxation techniques are not just for kids. Review articles conclude relaxation techniques are an important therapeutic strategy for stress-related diseases.
Cold and flu season is here, but getting worried about it might only hurt your chances of staying healthy. Instead, consider how stress hurts your immune system, and write yourself a prescription for relaxation.
Alexander Chaitoff, Medical Student at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University and Joshua Daniel Niforatos, Medical Student at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.