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What do stress, loneliness and lack of sleep have in common? They are all factors that can weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to COVID-19, according to Rice University’s Christopher Fagundes, an associate professor in the department of psychological sciences who studies the link between mental and immune health.
Fagundes is available to discuss this timely topic as people across the world are socially distancing themselves from others and face stress and uncertainty.
“In my field, we have conducted a lot of work to look at what predicts who gets colds and different forms of respiratory illnesses, and who is more susceptible to getting sick,” Fagundes said. “We’ve found that stress, loneliness and lack of sleep are three factors that can seriously compromise aspects of the immune system that make people more susceptible to viruses if exposed. Also, stress, loneliness and disrupted sleep promote other aspects of the immune system responsible for the production of proinflammatory cytokines to over-respond. Elevated proinflammatory cytokine production can generate sustained upper respiratory infection symptoms.”
And while this previous research has centered on different cold and upper respiratory viruses, he said “there is no doubt” that these effects would be the same for COVID-19.
Previous studies have indicated that healthy, nonimmunocompromised people who spend less time around others and are exposed to the cold virus are significantly more likely to get sick and experience worse symptoms than those people who get out and socialize.
Fagundes said this can be explained by the way positive emotions buffer against stressors and evoke a favorable immune response, even while extroverted individuals are more likely to be around more people, possibly those who are carrying germs that could make them sick.
It’s an interesting paradox during the global COVID-19 pandemic, Fagundes said, when people are strongly encouraged and in some places required to stay at home to prevent the further spread of the virus.
Another major factor that impacts immune health is sleep deprivation, Fagundes said, which he noted has been demonstrated over and over in previous study of the topic.
“The overwhelming consensus in the field is that people who do not consistently get a good night’s sleep — 7-9 hours for adults, with variation on what is optimal — makes a person more likely to get sick,” he said.
Fagundes said that although alcohol use, certain jobs and other factors make some people more likely to have poor sleep, psychological stress has a tremendous impact on a person’s quality of sleep.
“It’s important also to note that when we talk about stress, we mean chronic stress taking place over several weeks, not a single stressful incident or a few days of stress,” Fagundes said. “An isolated stressful incident does not seem to make a person more susceptible to a cold or the flu.”
However, even absent of poor sleep, chronic stress alone is disruptive enough to the immune system to make people more likely to get sick, Fagundes said.
“Without question, previous work on this topic clearly demonstrates that chronic stress affects our immune system in a way that makes us more susceptible to viruses and colds,” he said. “Just think about college students who get sick after weeks of stress while studying for a big exam.”
Fagundes said the best ways to mitigate the harmful health effects of loneliness and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic are to stay connected with others through communication, particularly video calls.
“There is some evidence that it may be better to video conference versus having a regular phone call to reduce feelings of isolation,” he said. “There’s something about chatting with people and having them visually ‘with’ you that seems to be more of a buffer against loneliness.”
Fagundes also noted that it is important to keep a routine during stressful times.
“This will regulate your sleep and allow you to focus on immediate goals and plans,” he said. “In turn, you will overthink things less and feel more accomplished.”
And if you find yourself worrying nonstop about the situation, it can be helpful to set aside specific “worry times,” Fagundes said.
“People often worry and overthink things because their brain is telling them there is something to solve,” he said. “However, it can be counterproductive after a while. A good technique is to set aside 15 minutes a day where you allow yourself to worry, preferably with a pen and paper. After that, you aren’t allowed to think about the issue for the rest of the day.”
Fagundes said it is also sometimes helpful for people to identify inaccurate thoughts that reinforce negative thinking and emotions.
“People often convince themselves that a situation is much worse than it is by telling themselves things that are not true,” he said. “We call these cognitive distortions. For example, it is common to catastrophize a situation by convincing themselves that the worst-case scenario is the most likely scenario. When people learn to identify and then refute these thoughts, they often feel much better.”
An expert in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, Fagundes studies how stress “gets under the skin” to impact diseases of older adulthood such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and cognitive decline. He is also interested in the link between mood and health behaviors and the immune system. He has been quoted in local, national and international media outlets about these topics. More information about him is available at https://psychology.rice.edu/christopher-fagundes.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, 59, is encouraging couples to have sex while quarantined during the coronavirus pandemic, saying it's 'the best solution' for depression.
He noted that physical intimacy is better than 'getting on each other's nerves'.
Dr. Oz explained that what they have learned from the coronavirus outbreak in China is that 'people get really depressed when they're quarantined'.
He advised that people should use the time at home to pick up a hobby or find something that they wished they had time to learn such as a new language.
Dr. Mehmet Oz has the cure for fighting the coronavirus quarantine blues: sex.
At a time when most couples are working at home and likely getting on each other's nerves, the 59-year-old talk show host recommends regular physical intimacy to stave off fights and combat depression while trapped inside.
'The best solution, if you're holed up with your significant other quarantined, is have sex. You'll live longer, get rid of the tension,' he told TMZ while walking the empty streets of New York City on Tuesday.
'It certainly gets some stories. Maybe you'll make some babies,' he added. 'It's certainly better than staring at each other and getting on each other's nerves.'
Dr. Oz explained that what they have learned from the coronavirus outbreak in China is that 'people get really depressed when they're quarantined.'
He advised that people should use the time at home to pick up a hobby or find something that they wished they had time to learn such as a new language, a musical instrument, or computer programming.
'Just do something you never thought possible. Read philosophy and get smart,' he said. 'Don't just watch escapism television and become braindead and numb to the world.'
And, of course, he believes couples should use the time to have sex while making the best of a bad situation.
Source: MedicalXpress
Older people who regularly walk, garden, swim or dance may have
bigger brains than their inactive peers, according to a preliminary
study to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 72nd Annual
Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 25 to May 1, 2020. The effect of
exercise was equal to four fewer years of brain aging.
The study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to measure the brains of people with a range of activity levels, including those who were inactive to those who were very active. The scans showed less active people had smaller brain volume.
"These results are exciting, as they suggest that people may potentially prevent brain shrinking and the effects of aging on the brain simply by becoming more active," said study author Yian Gu, Ph.D., of Columbia University in New York and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
"Recent studies have shown that as people age, physical activity may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Our study used brain scans to measure the brain volumes of a diverse group of people and found that those who engaged in the top third highest level of physical activity had a brain volume the equivalent of four years younger in brain aging than people who were at the bottom third activity level."
The study involved 1,557 people with an average age of 75. None had dementia, but 296 people had mild cognitive impairment and 28% had the APOE gene that is linked to a greater risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Participants were given physical exams, thinking and memory tests, and were asked about their daily tasks and other physical activities. Researchers then calculated how much time and energy each person spent on those tasks and activities.
Researchers divided people into three groups: those who were inactive; those who were somewhat active meaning each week they either had roughly two-and-a-half hours of low-intensity physical activity, one-and-a-half hours of moderate physical activity or one hour of high-intensity physical activity; and those who were most active meaning each week they either had seven hours of low-intensity physical activity, four hours of moderate physical activity or two hours of high-intensity physical activity.
Researchers then reviewed MRI brain scans of all participants and found that when compared to the people in the inactive group, those who were most active had larger total brain volume.
After adjusting for age, sex, education, race/ethnicity and APOE gene status, the average brain size for those who were inactive was 871 cubic centimeters compared to 883 cubic centimeters for those who were most active, a difference of 12 cubic centimeters, or 1.4%, or the equivalent of nearly four years of brain aging. The results remained similar even after excluding people who had mild cognitive impairment.
"Our results add to the evidence that more physical activity is linked to larger brain volume in older people," said Gu. "It also builds on evidence that moving your body more often throughout one's life may protect against loss of brain volume."
A limitation of the study was that information on physical activity
relied on a person's ability to remember how often and for how much time
they were active. Additionally, Gu noted that due to the particular
study design, this study does not prove that exercise prevents brain
shrinkage; it shows an association.
