The REAL Story Behind Health News Headlines by Russell J. Martino, Ph.D. The Voice Of Health
Stress, perceived stress, actual stress, emotions, antibodies, neurotransmitters and how it all relates to your immune system response.
A study published in The Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine reports that “perceived stress” is more destructive to your immune system response than “actual stress”.
Using blood samples taken over a 16-month period from study participants who had been vaccinated against meningitis C, researchers determined that people with high levels of PERCEIVED STRESS consistently measured fewer protective antibodies than all other groups.
Participants were divided into 3 groups;
1) Group 1 had Low ACTUAL Stress – No stress conditions beyond the ordinary.
2) Group 2 had High ACTUAL Stress – Unusual, highly stressful circumstances.
3) Group 3 had High PERCEIVED Stress – Most in this group had low to normal stress levels, however, they perceived their lives as being highly stressful.
The group with high-perceived stress frequently had very low actual stress.
The group with HIGH PERCEIVED STRESS tested 80% fewer protective antibodies in their blood than either of the other two groups.
Discussion: The message is clear; there’s a DIRECT and MEASURABLE connection between your immune system strength and the way your react to the world around you.
The most notable thing about this study is the clear distinction made between ACTUAL STRESS and PERCEIVED STRESS.
Several of the study participants experienced the loss of a parent during the 16-month study period. By any standard, the death of a loved one is a highly stressful event, yet even those in this highest stress group had perfectly normal levels of protective antibodies.
Twenty seven percent of the participants reported high levels of perceived stress during the study and, to a person, this 27% had up to 80% fewer antibodies, even though in most cases, their ACTUAL stress was far less than other participants.
The message is clear. If you think you are stressed you get the negative health consequences whether or not the stress is real.
How does perceived stress weaken your immune system?
When you feel stressed your brain produces a cascade of powerful bio-chemicals called neurotransmitters. There are many different kinds of neurotransmitters, but the long and short of it is that stress related neurotransmitters can be HIGHLY DESTRUCTIVE to your health.
Constantly feeling stressed means you are constantly flooding your body with powerful chemicals that weaken your immune system and leave you more vulnerable to illness and disease.
Practical Application: Take control of your emotions and don’t let little things, (or big things), get you down.
Stressful situations occur, but ACTUAL STRESS, stress that you recognize, deal with and move on, will not harm your health.
Monitor your feelings and emotions. If something is bothering you, DEAL WITH IT. Your health is too important to let things bother you for very long, and besides that, (to quote my dad), “what difference will it make in a hundred years”? And to quote my wife, “what difference will it make in an hour”?
Remember This . . .
Stress-related bio-chemicals damage your health and those chemicals are made IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO YOUR PERCEPTIONS, not in response to the actual situation.
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Russell J. Martino, Ph.D Bringing You Health… At The Speed Of Life!
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Written by Dr. Russell J. Martino, Ph.DThe Voice Of Health
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