Research
Boost Immune System

Carnegie Mellon Researcher Say Stress Reduction May Help Our Bodies Defend Against Illness, Disease

PITTSBURGH 1-7-1998 --Can stress reduction help our bodies defend against cancer? Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh researchers addressing this question are optimistic but not yet sure.

In an editorial in the Jan. 7, 1998 Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Carnegie Mellon psychologist Sheldon Cohen and University of Pittsburgh Medical School immunologist Bruce Rabin say that stress influences on the immune function may have implications for defenses against the development or growth of malignant tissue. However, the evidence for such a relationship is incomplete.

There are a number pathways through which stress might influence immune function, they say. These include biological links, such as nerves connecting the brain and the immune system, and stress-elicited release of hormones from the brain that alter the functions of immune cells. Stress might also alter immunity through its effects on behaviors such as increases in smoking and drinking alcohol, and loss of sleep.

Their commentary for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute was a reaction to an analysis of the association between the experience of stress among breast cancer patients and the function of their immune system reported by psychologist Barbara Andersen of The Ohio State University.

Cohen and Rabin evaluate evidence for stress-elicited immune change influencing cancer progression. They suggest there is substantial evidence that psychological stress can alter immune function. However, the role of the immune system in cancer is less clear, and there are questions as to whether the types of changes in immunity that occur under stress are the same types that might be important for cancer. The two researchers also discuss studies that demonstrate that interventions designed to reduce stress might lessen cancer recurrence and prolong life.