AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Many factors contribute to stress. But whatever the cause, stress creates a hormone in your body called cortisol. Cortisol can suppress your immune system’s effectiveness in fighting off invaders by lowering the number of lymphocytes present in the blood and interfering with normal white blood cell communication.

Detailed explanation-2: -Stress and Immune System Function Stress can reduce the number of natural killer cells or lymphocytes in the body, which are needed to fight viruses, according to the American Psychological Association.

Detailed explanation-3: -Studies have shown that short-term stress boosted the immune system, but chronic stress has a significant effect on the immune system that ultimately manifest an illness. It raises catecholamine and suppressor T cells levels, which suppress the immune system.

Detailed explanation-4: -WASHINGTON-Chronic stress not only makes people more vulnerable to catching illnesses but can also impair their immune system’s ability to respond to its own anti-inflammatory signals that are triggered by certain hormones, say researchers, possibly altering the course of an inflammatory disease.

Detailed explanation-5: -Stress induces chronic immune activation and altered health outcomes that resemble those seen in chronic inflammatory diseases such as RA [39, 40]. Altered immune function can lead to exacerbated symptoms of both physical and psychological illnesses.