Outline and evaluate what research has shown about the effects of stress on the immune system
Stress is the environmental stimulus that triggers a stress response. Stress have negative effects on the immune system because when we are stressed, the hormones adrenaline suppressor the T-cells and decreases the helper T-cells in our bloodstream which are helped to stimulate cells to attack the pathogens. In addition, cortisol is also released to decrease the production of lymphocytes and inhibits the function of phagocytes which helps to engulf any antigen. Therefore, the ability of the immune system to fight off antigens is reduced, so we are more susceptible to infections.
Kiecolt-Glaser et al supports that stress does negatively affect the immune system, in a study with an independent measures design, he created a small wound on the arms of 13 women who cared for relatives with Alzheimer’s disease (a very stressful responsibility) and a control group of 13 people who also took part. He found out that wound healing took an average of nine days longer for the carers than those in the control group, this therefore shows that long term stress impairs the effectiveness of the immune system to heal wounds. This study is also supported by Sweeney, he found out that people caring for relatives with dementia took longer than a control group to heal their wounds. However, for both studies the two groups may have varied in other ways apart from the stress of being a carer. There