Neurotic People May Have Weaker Immune Systems
Neurotic People May Have Weaker Immune Systems
Jan. 22, 2001 -- Adding to the growing evidence linking body and mind, new research suggests that moody, nervous, and tense people may have weaker immune responses than their calmer, cooler counterparts. In light of this finding, stress reduction techniques, including meditation, may be just what the doctor ordered.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine came to their conclusion by studying the immune reaction of a group of young adults following their vaccination for hepatitis B -- a viral infection affecting more than 200,00 people in the U.S. each year.
The same people were also administered a personality test. Researchers found that those people whose test scores marked them as anxious, nervous, tense, and irritable -- characteristics psychologists refer to as "trait negative" or neurotic -- tended to produce fewer protective antibodies and T cells in response to the hepatitisvaccines.
"The study suggests that people high in [trait negative affect] are more prone to illness," says lead researcher Anna L. Marsland, PhD, RN, of the behavioral medicine program at the university's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. "[Until recently], one of the main thoughts has been that such people just report more symptoms. But what this study suggests is they actually may be more susceptible to illness and infection."
Further study is needed to confirm these findings, she says.
Marsland and colleagues discovered the correlation after administering a test in which participants were asked to choose adjectives that best described their personalities and then followed that up with a measurement of their immune response after two doses of the three-part vaccine. They reported their findings in the January issue of the journal Health Psychology.
In a second experiment, the researchers videotaped participants giving a speech -- assumed to be a stressful activity -- and then measured their T-cell function in blood samples taken right before and 30 minutes after the speech. T-cells are one indicator of an immune system response.
And while all study participants were found to have lower immune function as a result of giving the speech -- that is, in response to a stressful event -- those who had the greatest reduction in immune function also tended to have weaker responses to the hepatitis B vaccine, she says.
Neurotic People May Have Weaker Immune Systems
Jan. 22, 2001 -- Adding to the growing evidence linking body and mind, new research suggests that moody, nervous, and tense people may have weaker immune responses than their calmer, cooler counterparts. In light of this finding, stress reduction techniques, including meditation, may be just what the doctor ordered.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine came to their conclusion by studying the immune reaction of a group of young adults following their vaccination for hepatitis B -- a viral infection affecting more than 200,00 people in the U.S. each year.
The same people were also administered a personality test. Researchers found that those people whose test scores marked them as anxious, nervous, tense, and irritable -- characteristics psychologists refer to as "trait negative" or neurotic -- tended to produce fewer protective antibodies and T cells in response to the hepatitisvaccines.
"The study suggests that people high in [trait negative affect] are more prone to illness," says lead researcher Anna L. Marsland, PhD, RN, of the behavioral medicine program at the university's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. "[Until recently], one of the main thoughts has been that such people just report more symptoms. But what this study suggests is they actually may be more susceptible to illness and infection."
Further study is needed to confirm these findings, she says.
Marsland and colleagues discovered the correlation after administering a test in which participants were asked to choose adjectives that best described their personalities and then followed that up with a measurement of their immune response after two doses of the three-part vaccine. They reported their findings in the January issue of the journal Health Psychology.
In a second experiment, the researchers videotaped participants giving a speech -- assumed to be a stressful activity -- and then measured their T-cell function in blood samples taken right before and 30 minutes after the speech. T-cells are one indicator of an immune system response.
And while all study participants were found to have lower immune function as a result of giving the speech -- that is, in response to a stressful event -- those who had the greatest reduction in immune function also tended to have weaker responses to the hepatitis B vaccine, she says.
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