We’ve all heard that too much stress can hurt our health. Stress contributes to ailments such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
Now, a study published on June 13 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), shows that years of accumulated stress can more rapidly age the immune system. This finding could help explain disparities in health outcomes among people of the same chronological age, and provide insight to help those affected by stress.
The immune system degrades with age and worn-out white blood cells proliferate while “naive” new cells that are ready to fight harmful invaders decrease. This normal process of immune system aging is called immunosenescence. But the rate at which this deterioration occurs varies widely among people of the same chronological age….