Scientists from USC found that stress—in the form of traumatic events, job strain, everyday stressors and discrimination—accelerates aging of the immune system.
This can potentially increase a person’s risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and illness from infections such as COVID-19.
The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was conducted by Eric Klopack et al.
With advanced age, a person’s immune profile weakens, and includes too many worn-out white blood cells circulating and too few fresh, “naive” white blood cells ready to take on new invaders.
Immune aging is associated not only with cancer, but with heart disease, increased risk of pneumonia, reduced efficacy of vaccines and organ system aging.
In the study, the team aimed to examine a connection between lifetime exposure to stress—a known contributor to poor health—and declining vigor in the immune system.
The researchers analyzed responses from a national sample of 5,744 adults over the age of 50. Blood samples from the participants were then analyzed.
The team found that people with higher stress scores had older-seeming immune profiles, with lower percentages of fresh disease fighters and higher percentages of worn-out white blood cells.
The association between stressful life events and fewer ready-to-respond, or naive, T cells remained strong even after controlling for education, smoking, drinking, BMI, and race or ethnicity.
Some sources of stress may be impossible to control, but the researchers say there may be a workaround.
T-cells—a critical component of immunity—mature in a gland called the thymus, which sits just in front of and above the heart.
As people age, the tissue in their thymus shrinks and is replaced by fatty tissue, resulting in reduced production of immune cells.
Past research suggests that this process is accelerated by lifestyle factors like poor diet and low exercise, which are both associated with social stress.
Improving diet and exercise behaviors in older adults may help offset the immune aging linked to stress.
Additionally, cytomegalovirus (CMV) may be a target for intervention. CMV is a common, usually asymptomatic virus in humans and is known to have a strong effect on accelerating immune aging.
Like shingles or cold sores, CMV is dormant most of the time but can flare up, especially when a person is experiencing high stress.
If you care about wellness, please read studies about why exercise can protect brain health in older people and these exercises may help reduce fatty liver disease.
For more information about wellness, please see recent studies that people with COVID-19 infections may age much faster, and results showing this stuff in cannabis may protect aging brain, treat Alzheimer’s.
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