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New research by the University of Southern California and published last month confirms that stress can adversely affect our immune system. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, looked into how various forms of social stress, impacted on the health of nearly 6000 adults.

Researchers did this by looking at how ‘old’ the participants’ immune systems were. As we age, our immunity naturally reduces, leaving us with a lower percentage of fresh disease-fighting cells and more, older white blood cells and the study found that stress accelerates this process.

After participants answered questions about their lives and had their blood taken and the results analysed, the researchers discovered that those who were more stressed, had older immune profiles.

There are obvious problems with having a poor immune system, but researchers also warned that aged immune systems also leave people at a higher risk of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Limiting our stress levels in the first place is important. But there are sources of stress that may be difficult to control, like grief or financial worries. In those circumstances, researchers said that there may be a ‘workaround’ to reduce the impact of these events on our immune systems. Exercise and diet can help alleviate stress.

Exercising as well as improving other lifestyle factors such as eating a balanced diet were shown to slow damage to our T-cells, a critical component of immunity, and protect us against stress-related immune ageing.

While the research suggests that improving your diet and exercise routine may help offset the immune ageing associated with stress, this study didn’t have any recommendations for how much exercise is required.

Other studies suggest that 20-30 minutes of exercise is enough to report feeling more mentally resilient during spells of stress, but for our long-term health, the NHS guidelines suggest 75 minutes of vigorous activity or 150 minutes of low-intensity activity a week.

Conclusion

We all know stress can cause anxiety and anxiety can cause our brain to go into overspin. It is important to reduce just how much stress you let in. Where external influences are part of that stress and in the pandemic, none of us are free of that, it is important to limit our time ‘tuned in’ to media and social media distraction.

While some stress helps us to stay focused, too much stress can cause worry and serious illness, such as cancer and heart disease. It is important to keep tabs on just how much stress you let in.

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