Is Stress Making Your Hay Fever Worse?
Managing stress and emotions is a cornerstone of healthy living. New research documents yet another area where a person’s stress level affects their well-being. Stress definitely makes things worse for people with seasonal allergies.
Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State, has long studied the effects of stress. She recently reported the results of a study of the effects of stress on people with seasonal allergies (such as hay fever).1
Twenty-eight people with seasonal allergies volunteered for the experiment (God bless the good people who volunteer for these things). They had skin tests and lots of other tests performed several times to see how strongly they responded to various substances. They were then divided into two groups.
The first group went through a low-stress experimental test. Researchers asked them to read a magazine article alone and then record themselves reading it out loud. After the experiment, the test subjects showed no difference in the size of the skin wheal they had in response to a known allergen.
The second group was given a high-stress test. They had to make a 10-minute speech to a group of stern-looking, white-coated “behavioral experts”, and then solve math problems in their head — all the while being videotaped. I think most of us would find that at least a little stressful.
After the high-stress experience, the volunteers’ allergic reaction as shown on the skin wheal was twice as big after the stress as it was before. Even more impressive, when these test subjects became stressed following the experiment, they were more than four times as likely to have an increased response to the allergic substance the next day.
This suggests that a single stressful experience can have a prolonged effect. Although the study didn’t look into it specifically, we can imagine the implications of a person experiencing repeated episodes of stress, day in and day out.
Remember that the stress these people experienced was not the stress of a life-and-death situation. The researchers didn’t send them into combat or out to fight wild wolves. The stress they experienced was the type we all might experience several times on a typical day in modern society.
This is yet another study showing that stress has profound effects on the immune system. Fortunately, other studies show that meditation and other stress management techniques neutralize the effects of stress. This is yet another reason to incorporate stress and emotional management into your healthy lifestyle.
Reference
Results reported at the 2008 meeting of the American Psychological Association.
Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State, has long studied the effects of stress. She recently reported the results of a study of the effects of stress on people with seasonal allergies (such as hay fever).1
Twenty-eight people with seasonal allergies volunteered for the experiment (God bless the good people who volunteer for these things). They had skin tests and lots of other tests performed several times to see how strongly they responded to various substances. They were then divided into two groups.
The first group went through a low-stress experimental test. Researchers asked them to read a magazine article alone and then record themselves reading it out loud. After the experiment, the test subjects showed no difference in the size of the skin wheal they had in response to a known allergen.
The second group was given a high-stress test. They had to make a 10-minute speech to a group of stern-looking, white-coated “behavioral experts”, and then solve math problems in their head — all the while being videotaped. I think most of us would find that at least a little stressful.
After the high-stress experience, the volunteers’ allergic reaction as shown on the skin wheal was twice as big after the stress as it was before. Even more impressive, when these test subjects became stressed following the experiment, they were more than four times as likely to have an increased response to the allergic substance the next day.
This suggests that a single stressful experience can have a prolonged effect. Although the study didn’t look into it specifically, we can imagine the implications of a person experiencing repeated episodes of stress, day in and day out.
Remember that the stress these people experienced was not the stress of a life-and-death situation. The researchers didn’t send them into combat or out to fight wild wolves. The stress they experienced was the type we all might experience several times on a typical day in modern society.
This is yet another study showing that stress has profound effects on the immune system. Fortunately, other studies show that meditation and other stress management techniques neutralize the effects of stress. This is yet another reason to incorporate stress and emotional management into your healthy lifestyle.
Reference
Results reported at the 2008 meeting of the American Psychological Association.
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