Stress and the Immune System

Running head : EVERYDAY AND CHRONIC STRESS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Everyday and Chronic Stress and the Immune System

With Consideration of Psychological Factors

Author

Institution

Instructor 's Name

Date

The definitive interaction of the immune system and stress is , for the most part , still a matter

of conjecture or , at best , based on anecdotal evidence . The components of the immune system

are well known . Most elements of stress , both acute and chronic , are also well known . There is

the psychological contribution to stress that remains in need

of much more study

If the immune system responds to stress , then antibodies will be produced . The antibodies are

stimulated to act against a great array of substances . These substances are known as antigens

because they can induce the creation of antibodies . These antibodies are antigen specific and in

the primary antibody response for first time exposure there a lag before any substantial amounts

of antibody are produced . On subsequent exposure the secondary antibody response operates

with less lag

The every day type of stress , if characterized as being acute and of short duration , can cause a

primary antibody response . A chronic stress condition might cause a secondary antibody

response . In both cases , social support and supportive personal relationships can alter the

perception of stress to lighten its load placed on the immune system

Categories of aliments and specific diss such as herpes , allergies autoimmune disease

cancer , and AIDS can allegedly be overcome by affective psychological factors . But , in careful

studies of outcomes in these cases of aliments and diss , only subsidiary conditions have

been given some relief by psychological intervention . This relief can involve the immune

system

The immune system is composed of two major classes of agents for dealing with pathogens

such as bacteria , viruses , parasites , chemical disturbances , and genetic malfunctions . These

classes are aided by tissues and organs that harbor or allow the classes zones for action

The classes are the adaptive immune response and the innate immune response

The innate immune response 's features were mainly discovered by the Russian immunologist

Elie Metchnikoff (Janeway , Travers , Walport Shlomchik , 2001 . He found that the immune

system could respond to many different foreign microorganisms by means of phagocytic cells

which surrounded and destroyed the pathogens . He called these cells macrophages . These cells

are always present in the immune system

The other class of the immune system , the adaptive immune response , came about in 1890

through the work of Emil von Behring and Shibasaburo Kitasato (Janeway et al , 2001 ) who

discovered serum of vaccinated individuals had products which they called antibodies . These

antibodies specifically bound to a specific pathogen . A specific immune response to a specific

pathogen characterizes the adaptive immune response . It is called adaptive since the cells come

about because of the body 's reaction to the presence to the pathogen The adaptive cells were not

in existence before the pathogen came along

The innate and adaptive immune response both depend upon white blood cells . The innate

immunity mostly has white...