The results of a study published in the Journal ”Nature” disclosed that acute stress can damage the bodys ability to fight infections, particularly COVID-19, and raise the risk of death.

The researchers evaluated the immune systems of relaxed and stressed mouse models. They found that acute stress causes neurons in the paraventricular hypothalamus to swiftly make a large-scale migration of white blood cells or leucocytes from lymph nodes to the blood and bone marrow, using sophisticated tools such as optogenetics and chemogenetics. This reduces the bodys immunological response to viruses like COVID-19 and influenza, making it less resistant to infection and enhancing the risk of complications and death. 

The findings linking the brain and the immune system help researchers better understand how stress impacts the bodys reaction to a virus, as well as why some people are more prone to severe disease and worse consequences.

The researchers also discovered that mice in the relaxed group were better at fighting infection and getting rid of the COVID-19 virus than mice in the stressed group. They emphasized that more research was needed to investigate if stress release could reduce the detrimental impacts of stress on our immune systems. (Hindustan Times, May 31, 2022)