Positive feelings strengthen the defense

Larissa Melville completed her traineeship in the editorial team of . After studying biology at Ludwig Maximilians University and the Technical University of Munich, she first got to know digital media online at Focus and then decided to learn medical journalism from scratch.

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MunichBreathtaking landscapes, a work of art or a moving piece of music can delight people. This has an unexpected side effect: the immune system also benefits from the positive emotions.

A healthy diet, adequate sleep and plenty of exercise - all of this strengthens the immune system. Jennifer Stellar from the University of Toronto and her team wanted to find out to what extent positive emotions are also good for defense. Indeed, people who visit magnificent buildings, look at paintings or stroll through beautiful landscapes may have lower levels of interleukin-6 in their blood.

Activated immune system

This inflammation-promoting messenger substance belongs to the cytokines - a group of regulatory proteins that control the immune response and thus help the body fight infections. Interleukin-6, for example, activates the defense reaction. If the level rises for a short time because the immune system is fighting a pathogen, this is an advantage. A persistently high cytokine level, however, indicates a weakened state of health.

For the study, the researchers examined more than 200 young adults. They reported positive emotions such as awe, amazement, love, satisfaction or pride that they had experienced during the day. The scientists then took tissue samples from the oral mucosa and determined the respective interleukin-6 content.

Positive feelings keep you healthy

The lowest interleukin-6 levels were not associated with a feeling of euphoria such as love, but with awe, amazement, and amazement. "Positive feelings could have a direct impact on health and life expectancy," speculates Dacher Keltner, co-author of the study and a psychologist at UC Berkeley.

However, the researchers cannot yet say for sure whether the feelings actually have an effect on the cytokine values ​​or, conversely, the cytokines have an effect on the emotions. "It is also possible that a low cytokine level gives people more positive emotions - or that messenger substances and feelings influence one another," explains Stellar.

Elevated cytokines - an indication of diseases

Constantly high cytokine levels are associated with autoimmune diseases and diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis. In a previous study, researchers had also found elevated cytokine levels in people with depression. They suspect that cytokines in the brain block chemical messengers such as serotonin and dopamine. These hormones control mood, among other things, and influence drive, appetite, sleep and memory - all things that are disturbed in depression.

Sources:

Stellar, Jennifer E. et al .: Positive Affect and Markers of Inflammation: Discrete Positive Emotions Predict Lower Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines. Emotion. doi: 10.1037 / emo0000033

UC Berkeley press release from 02/02/2015

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