Social stress such as discrimination and family problems, along with job and money problems, can contribute to premature aging of your immune system, a recent study found. That’s a double whammy, as the immune system already deteriorates with age.
Immune aging can lead to cancer, heart disease and other age-related health conditions and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines, such as Covid-19, said lead author Eric Klopack, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.
“People with higher stress scores had older-seeming immune profiles, with lower percentages of fresh disease fighters and higher percentages of worn-out T-cells,” Klopack said.
There are ways to stop stress in its tracks. Deep breathing ramps up our parasympathetic nervous system, the opposite of the “flight or fight” response. Filling the belly with air to the count of six will ensure you are breathing deeply. Moving your body as if it is in slow motion is another way to trigger that calming reflex, experts say.
Interrupt your stressful, anxious thinking with cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. It has been shown in randomized clinical trials to ease depression, anxiety, obsessive thinking, eating and sleep disorders, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and more.
