Psychoneuroimmunology

So i discovered that the field of medicine i was researching into is called psychoneuroimmunology. It looks at both mental and physiological aspects of disease, mainly chronic diseases. There is a journal article by Lutgendorf and Costanzo called Psychoneuroimmunology and health psychology: An intergrative model which looks to correlate aging and stress. They found that disease processes through psychosocial processes and health behaviors. Psychosocial processes were factors like mental health, mood factors, life events, personality characteristics, and resources like social relationships. Health behavior was activities like exercise, nutrient and smoking. Certain factors like social support and exercises were thought to enhance resistance while others like depression and cigarette smoking were thought to increase vulnerability. This concept is the basis of the biopsycosocial model and the factors interact to create vulnerability to disease. They found in their review that each person could tolerate a certain level of stress before they become symptomatic. Examples include a shift from a Th-1 response to a Th-2 response as one ages. This type of immune shift is thought to be important to the body’s ability to fend of diseases. Common models to illustrate the affects of stress are the stress of caring of a spouse who has Alzheimer’s or dementia. The caregivers were given immunizations to the influenza virus and those who care for their disabled spouses were four times less likely to build up the proper antibody response. In fact, only 30-50% of older adults were able to mount the response as opposed to 70-90% of younger adults. Protective factors like social support, active coping strategies and sense of meaning in life were important imuno-boosting factors (Lutgendorf). This review shows that health psychology and psyconeuroimmunolgy is a budding field. Stress seems to be a factor in amplifying age-related immune dysfunction. As for a response, behavioral interventions, especially support groups, appear to help mitigate these factors.


Citation:

Costanzo ES. Lutgendorf SK. Sood AK. Anderson B. Sorosky J. Lubaroff DM. (2005). Psychosocial factors and interleukin-6 among women with advanced ovarian cancer. Cancer, 104, 305-13.