About Immunity

(3) Stress and Aging Affect Immunity

[1] Stress:

Upon mental stress, such as anger, sadness, and fear, the sympathetic nerve tense up. The sympathetic nerves communicate to an endocrine organ, where a hormone called corticoid is secreted. Because corticoid is a type of steroid hormones, it causes the function of immunocompetent cells to decline or die, which is why the immune system is depressed in conjunction with mental stress.

Steroid-induced macrophage cell death can be prevented to some extent by treating macrophages with LPS in advance (*1). It is therefore recommended to consume meals or supplements containing LPS so that support the immune system when you have suffered from mental stress.

[2] Aging:

As people age, recovery takes longer once they catch a cold, vaccination has no apparent effect, and scars do not disappear once wounded. Regarding wound recovery, one study showed that the number of macrophages that scrambles to the wounded site peaked on the 7th day from the date of suffering the wound in young people while it peaked on the 84th day in elderly people (*2). It appears that aging causes immunizing power to decline, as in cases of elderly people having difficulty hearing or seeing. It is important to maintain healthy eating habits and a lifestyle that supports immunizing power, as well as cheerful feelings.

(*1) Resistance of LPS-activated bone marrow derived macrophages to apoptosis mediated by dexamethasone, Scientific Reports, 4: 4323 (2014)
(*2) Life-sustaining macrophages (2nd impression of the 1st edition, Bunkodo) P392 / Lab Invest 78: 47-58 (1998)