How the soul controls the body's defenses

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

More posts by Christiane Fux All content is checked by medical journalists.

Fear, anger, stress - negative feelings can weaken the immune system. Those who are optimistic, on the other hand, get sick less often and get better faster. The reason: the brain and the immune system are in constant contact. Read more about the interaction between the soul and the immune system!

The communication between the brain and the immune system takes place, among other things, via hormones such as the stress hormone cortisol. Defense cells also produce messenger substances, so-called interleukins: They control the activity of the immune system and signal - if they are present in large quantities in the blood - to the brain that an infection is raging in the body, for example. The brain then increases the body temperature and ensures that the patient feels limp and listless - so that he takes care of himself. If the brain registers that the interleukin level and thus the activity of the immune system is too high, it shuts down the immune system again.

In addition to such messenger substances, the vegetative nervous system also serves as a communication medium, which transmits messages from the body to the brain and vice versa.

Alarmed immune cells

The brain usually reacts to acute stress by letting the adrenal glands release more cortisol. The stress hormone initially alarms the unspecific immune defense, which also includes the natural killer cells. This group of lymphocytes forms the body's first line of defense and renders bacteria, viruses and fungi harmless. In acute stress, larger amounts of them circulate in the blood. This reaction makes sense in evolutionary terms, because stress was once primarily a reaction to dangerous situations. The risk of injury is particularly high in these areas - and with it the risk that pathogens can penetrate the body through wounds.

Chronic stress weakens the immune system

Chronic stress, on the other hand, has a different effect: The cortisol level in the blood is then permanently increased. The stress hormone attaches to receptors on the surface of certain white blood cells. As a result, these cells release less interleukin-1 beta. This messenger substance normally stimulates the immune cells to multiply. Interleukin-1-beta also increases the activity of natural killer cells and promotes the formation of antibodies that specialize in certain pathogens. If the level of the messenger substance falls, the effectiveness of the immune system also decreases.

Anyone who is constantly "electrified" should therefore not be surprised if an infection keeps paralyzing them. In stressful times, the annoying herpes blisters return for many people, the cause of which is normally kept in check by the immune system. Wounds also heal more slowly when the injured person is stressed.

Stress brake sport

Anything that counteracts stress, on the other hand, strengthens the immune system. Exercise, for example, causes blood cortisol levels to drop. Regular physical activity thus strengthens the immune system.

The situation is different, however, when the physical exertion is so great that it degenerates into stress. Then it weakens the immune system. After a marathon, for example, athletes are particularly susceptible to infection.

Targeted relaxation techniques, such as autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation or mindfulness exercises, therefore also have a supportive effect on the immune system.

The fatal power of negative feelings

Negative feelings are also troublesome for the immune system. People who suffer from depression or anxiety are therefore more susceptible to infections. How great this influence is is shown, among other things, by studies with cancer patients.In one study, half of the breast cancer patients who also suffered from depression died within five years - but only a quarter of those cancer patients who were not depressed.

The reason for this could be that emotionally stable patients have more natural killer cells in their blood. In addition to pathogens, these can also track down degenerated cells and render them harmless.

Positive energy boost

Positive emotions, on the other hand, can strengthen the immune system and even improve the chances of recovery from cancer. The aim of psycho-oncology is therefore to absorb the emotional stresses associated with cancer. As part of the treatment, behavioral techniques are used to strengthen positive thoughts and defuse negative thoughts. In addition, there are visualization techniques that create a positive mood.

Hyperactive immune cells

The immune system is not always dampened by emotional strain and stress. In some cases, emotional pressure can also cause the immune system to overreact. Depression, but also chronic stress and suppressed anger, can aggravate existing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis.

Experts believe that this is probably due to a lack of cortisol. This is because cortisol normally inhibits the production of interleukin-2. On the other hand, if the cortisol level is low, interleukin-2 production increases. This calls for more T cells on the scene, which also attack the body's own cells as part of autoimmune diseases. This theory is supported, among other things, by observations that in some pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis the symptoms disappear all at once - the cortisol level rises during pregnancy.

Allergy flare-ups due to stress

A similar mechanism leads to the fact that symptoms of allergic diseases can worsen under stress. This can happen with neurodermatitis and asthma, for example. The immune system of those affected is overexcited and produces large amounts of immunoglobulin E. In allergy patients, these antibodies attach themselves to the so-called mast cells (a subgroup of leukocytes), which then release histamine. This substance causes the typical allergy symptoms such as itching, reddening of the skin and tissue swelling (edema).

Learning a relaxation exercise can therefore also make life easier for allergy sufferers, as studies show: asthma sufferers suffer fewer attacks, the skin of neurodermatitis patients improves, and hay fever sufferers also benefit from targeted relaxation.

Tags:  alcohol healthy feet laboratory values