The Nervous System Link to Our Immune Health
It’s 2022 and Winter is fast approaching us in the Southern Hemisphere.
The mainstream media has started to increase their coverage on the looming possibility of another outbreak.
One of the most overlooked systems in our body that has a very strong link to our immune health is the nervous system.
Our nervous system comprises billions of neural networks and neurons within our brain synapse which connects to the spinal cord sending endless electrical and chemical messages into every single section of our body.
This is the information highway. And our brain is the control centre regulating both voluntary and involuntary processes [1].
We take for granted the miracles that the body performs every millisecond of every day to keep us alive, survive and thrive in our current environment.
What we don’t appreciate is the fact that every emotion that we feel, and feed can either support us or damage our immune system over a period.
Yes, our feelings are part of our nervous system. Decision-making, error detection, memory, and emotions are all connected [2]. And this has an effect on our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, commonly known as, fight, flight, freeze, rest, repair, and digest responses. It is our built-in biological blueprint to keep us alive.
Two of the main emotions that are currently sweeping across the globe are fear and anger.
While fear itself is neither a good nor bad emotion, its main role is to keep us safe. However, long periods of fear activation can increase our sympathetic nervous system & stress reactions, down-regulate our immune response, and negatively affect our cognitive processes, decision-making, memory, and emotional responses.
An increase in cortisol secretion (stress hormone) inhibits salivary lysozyme and secretory Ig A. These are frontline protectors in mucosal invasion and subsequent infections and are widely distributed in human tissues and secretions. The risk of acute respiratory infections is increased including those caused by coronavirus when these defenses are inhibited via an elevated stress-mediated response [3].
And anger?
In a clinical review, it had noted that hostile marital relationships are associated with slower wound healing and dysregulated cytokine production at wound sites. IL-6, TNF-α and C-reactive protein levels (an inflammatory marker) are higher than non-aggressive individuals [4].
These markers of inflammation are also implicated in the ‘cytokine storm” which increases the severity of Covid-19, as well as autoimmune diseases [5, 6].
While it feels inhuman to live a life devoid of emotions, one of the most fundamental actions we can do is learn how to express them in a positive and regulated way and manage our nervous system so that we can carry the burden of stress little better.
Does our survival and ability to thrive in this life and for future generations depend on how well we engage and regulate our emotions?
When our emotions are intricately linked to our immune system, it is very likely.
Here are practical ways to support your nervous system:
1. Adequate SLEEP
Reference:
Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care. (2016). How Does the Nervous System Work?
Critchley et al. (2013). Interaction between cognition, emotion and the autonomic nervous system. Handbook of Critical Neurology. PMID: 24095116
Karnatovskaia et al. (2020). Stress and fear. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. PMID: 33153636
Takahashi et al. (2018). Aggression, social stress, and the immune system in humans and animals. Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience. PMID: 29623033
Guiroa et al. (2020). High serum IL-6 values increase risk of mortality and severity in pneumonia in patients diagnosed with CV-19. Molecular Immunology.
PMID: 33075636Moudgil, K.D and Choubey, D. (2011). Cytokines in autoimmunity: Role in induction, regulation and treatment. Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research. PMID: 21942420
