The immune system is closely tied to how we feel, and a University of Southern California (USC) study has found that stress in the form of traumatic events, everyday stressors, job strain, and discrimination accelerate aging of the immune system.
This fact increases the risk of developing diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular problems, as well as contracting infections such as COVID-19 or pneumonia. According to the authors, this association between the immune system and feelings of stress could explain age-related differences in health or the unequal number of victims of the coronavirus pandemic.
The research included the participation of 5,744 adults over 50 years of age who filled out a questionnaire about their levels of social stress, chronic stress and discrimination, and who underwent a blood test to measure their immune profile through the number of blood cells worn whites and fresh ones, and other parameters.
Compensate immune aging with diet and exercise
The aging of the immune system has not only been associated with a higher risk of cancer, COVID or cardiovascular diseases, but it can also reduce the effectiveness of vaccines and increase organ senescence. In this study, which has been presented in the journal PNAS, it was observed that people with higher stress scores corresponded to immunological profiles that seemed older, since they had low levels of fresh white blood cells and more of worn ones.
The aging of the immune system can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines and increase the senescence of organs
The relationship between stressful life events and lower levels of T cells ready to respond remained strong even after adjusting for factors such as education, smoking, alcohol, body mass index (BMI) and race or ethnic origin.
Eric Klopack, one of the authors, stated that “in this study, after statistically controlling for poor diet and lack of exercise, the connection between stress and accelerated immune aging was not as strong. What this means is that people who experience more stress tend to have poorer diet and exercise habits, which partly explains why they have more accelerated immune aging.” Therefore, the researchers believe that stress-related immune aging could be offset by a good diet and physical activity.
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