STRESS
Stress is a body’s method of reacting to a challenge and it describes a negative or positive condition that can have an impact on a person’s mental and physical well-being.
Research shows that prolonged stress affects the body’s immune system and triggers health problems
Chronic stress influences gene activity in immune cells which are primed to fight an infection or trauma that does not actually exist, leading to an overabundance of the inflammation that is linked to many health problems.
Repeated stress triggers the sympathetic nervous system, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response, and stimulates the production of new blood cells.
While this response is important for survival, prolonged activation over an extended period of time could have negative effects on health.
A study on animals showed that, this type of chronic stress changes the activation, or expression, of genes in immune cells.
Genes that lead to inflammation are expressed at higher-than-normal levels while the activation of genes that might suppress inflammation is diminished.
Scientists suggest that, if you are working for a bad boss over a long period of time, that experience might play out at the level of gene expression in your immune system.
Source: Tanzlife Company Limited
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