Immunity Health News

A study out of Duke University Medical Center suggests that hostility in men may lead to an assortment of adverse health effects, including weakened immune systems, coronary heart disease, and Type II diabetes.

Researchers found that levels of C3, an immune system protein which is a marker of inflammation (the body’s response to injury or infection), were 7.1 percent higher in men whose psychological screenings showed the hightest levels of hostility and depression.

While the increase in C3 levels seems directly related to the subjects’ psychological attributes, is not yet known whether psychological treatment could reverse those levels.

Read more.

We all know someone — perhaps even the person smiling back from the mirror at us — who will swear as to the efficacy of Vitamin C as an immune system enhancer. Of course, they don’t really need to swear, because “everybody knows” that Vitamin C is good for preventing and healing from colds. Everyone except researchers, that is.

The researchers, from the Australian National University and the University of Helsinki, focused on research where participants were taking daily vitamin C supplements.

But their conclusion appears to suggest that the idea vitamin C supplements fight off colds is a myth. They found that only individuals under extreme physical stress, such as athletes and soldiers, stood to benefit.
Read the whole article.

Of course, colds aren’t the only reasons for taking Vitamin C. Let’s not forget about scurvy, and of course it is used daily in the body in a range of metabolic reactions. The researchers do acknowledge that taken in combination with other ingredients, such as echinacea, it may have unknown health benefits.

As with red wine, stress can be good for you in moderation. But also as with red wine, too much for too long will kill you.

So go the findings of study by researchers from the University of British Columbia and the University of Kentucky, who reviewed nearly 300 research papers covering 19,000 people.

Stressful situations that lasted only short periods appeared to tap into the primeval ‘fight or flight’ response, which dates back to when early man was threatened by predators.

This response benefited the person by boosting their body’s natural front-line defence against infections from traumas such as bites and scrapes.

But long-term anxiety had the opposite effect. Situations that caused permanent stress and turned the person’s world upside down were damaging to health.

Read more.

Here is a blog with a few interesting posts on the connection between laughter and health.

Of course, we all know the story of Norman Cousins, who cured his terminal illness with hours of Marx Brothers films.

A good source for a broader look at laughter’s effects can be found on medicinenet.com.

Also, check out rxlaughter.org for current research into laughter.

In December 2005, DARPA, the research wing of the US Department of Defense, awarded Appalachian State University 1.1 million dollars to fund a two-year study of the effects of quercetin . DARPA is seeking ways to maintain troop immune systems during times of physical and cognitive stress. Disease, of course, accounts for a significant number of deaths during war, but even non-fatal illnesses weaken troops.

The study finished in February, and concluded that it takes significant stress to bring out quercetin’s infection-fighting properties. This happened when the athletes being tested were under high oxidative stress, when stress hormones were high, and were undergoing muscle damage.

A follow-up study is set to determine whether or not quercetin has any benefits for people who are undergoing everyday mental stress. Read more.