One study found that daily stress and traumatic life events prematurely weaken the body’s immune cell mix.
According to the study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, stress-in the form of traumatic events, work stress, daily stress and discrimination-accelerates the aging of the immune system, which can increase of the risk of developing a person. cancer. cardiovascular diseases and diseases caused by infections such as “Covid-19”.
The findings, published June 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may help explain age -related health differences, including unequal losses from the epidemic, and identify potential intervention.
“This study helps explain the mechanisms involved in accelerating immunological aging,” said study lead author Eric Kloback, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
As people age, the immune system naturally begins to decline, a condition called immunodeficiency. A person’s immune system weakens with age and includes too many circulating white blood cells and very few new “immature” white blood cells that are ready to accept new invaders.
Immune aging is not only associated with cancer, but also with cardiovascular disease, increased risk of pneumonia, reduced effectiveness of vaccines, and organ aging.
But what explains the stark difference in health among adults of the same age?
Researchers at the University of Southern California decided to see if they could discover the link between lifelong stress exposure, a known factor in poor health, and decreased immune system activity.
They studied large data sets from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a long-term national study of the financial, health, marriage, family, and public and private support systems of American seniors.
To consider exposure to various forms of social stress, the researchers analyzed responses from a national sample of 5,744 aged 50 and older who responded to a questionnaire designed to assess experiences. of respondents to social stress, including stressful life events, chronic stress. , and cases of everyday discrimination and lifelong discrimination.
The team analyzed blood samples from participants 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 the laser.
As expected, those with higher stress levels have older immune profiles, with a lower proportion of newly disease -resistant ones and a higher proportion of overworked white blood cells.
The association between stressful life events and the number of less spontaneous or “naive” T cells remained strong even after consideration for education, smoking, body mass index and ethnicity.
Some sources of stress may be impossible to control, but researchers say there may be a solution.
T cells, an important part of immunity, mature in a gland called the thymus, located just in front and just above the heart.
As people age, thymus tissue shrinks and is replaced by fatty tissue, which reduces the production of immune cells.
Previous research suggests that this process is accelerated by lifestyle factors, such as poor diet and minimal exercise, that are associated with social stress.
“In this study, after statistical control for poor diet and lack of exercise, the association between stress and accelerated immune aging was not strong,” Klopak said. “This means that people with more stress are more likely to have a poorer diet and less exercise, which explains in part why their immune aging is accelerated.
Improving diet and exercise habits in the elderly can help offset stress -associated immune aging.
Furthermore, cytomegalovirus (CMV) may be the target for intervention, a common virus that shows no symptoms in humans and is known to have a strong effect on accelerating immune aging.
Like shingles or cold sores, CMV sleeps most of the time, but it can wake up, especially when a person is under extreme stress.
In this study, statistical control for CMV positive also reduced the association between stress and accelerated immune aging. Therefore, comprehensive CMV vaccination could be a relatively simple and powerful intervention that could reduce the effects of immune aging stress, the researchers said.
Source: Medical Express
Source: Arabic RT
