Stress Can Accelerate Immune System Ageing: Study

Long periods of stress have a negative impact on people’s health and overall well-being. A new study has found that stress from traumatic events, job strain, everyday stressors, and discrimination accelerates immune system ageing, potentially increasing a person’s risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infection-related illness. The study was conducted by the University of Southern California and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on June 13.

The study tries to explain disparities in age-related health, including the unequal toll of the pandemic, and identify potential points for intervention. One of the authors of this study says, “As the world’s population of older adults increases, understanding disparities in age-related health is essential. Age-related changes in the immune system play a critical role in declining health.”

The immune system naturally declines as people age, scientifically this condition is known as immunosenescence. Simply put, this means that with age the white blood cells in our body damages and the production of new cell that can fight infections are less.

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The study has also found that immune ageing is linked to not only cancer but also cardiovascular disease, and an increased risk of pneumonia among others.

The study tried to find out what causes health differences in same-age adults. They analysed data that was already available along with surveying 5,744 adults over the age of 50. They completed a questionnaire made to evaluate their experiences with social stress, which included stressful life events, chronic stress, everyday discrimination, and lifetime discrimination. Further, blood samples from the participants were then analysed using flow cytometry, a laboratory technique that counts and classifies blood cells as they pass one by one in a narrow stream in front of a laser.

The results suggested that people with higher stress scores had older immune profiles, with lower percentages of fresh WBCs and higher percentages of worn-out WBCs.

The researchers suggest that improving diet and exercise habits in older adults may help with immune ageing caused by stress.

Moreover, the study also talks about Cytomegalovirus (CMV) which may also be a cause of immune ageing. CMV is a common, usually asymptomatic virus in humans that has been linked to an increase in immune ageing. CMV is dormant most of the time but can flare up, especially when a person is stressed.

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