Autoimmune diseases are caused by an overactive immune system attacking the body; it is logical that suppressing the immune system will reduce the disease. That is precisely what happens when such patients are given massive amounts of glucocorticoids. The net result is less damage from the au-toimmune disease but at the cost of a suppressed immune system. Such patients are obviously more at risk from other diseases and have to be vigilant.
Paradoxically, many patients report that their autoimmune diseases deteriorate in times of stress. It is easy to dismiss this effect as psychosomatic as it is clear that the glucocorticoids will suppress the immune system and hence the autoimmune disease should get better, not worse. For a number of years, this was the prevalent attitude among physicians.
A number of studies have demonstrated the link between stress and worsening of the symptoms autoimmune disease. The onset of stress enhances the immune systems functioning making the autoimmune disease worse. Repeated moderate daily stressors will cause a worsening of the condition. Also, chronic stress with the long-term release of glucocorticoids will suppress the immune system. For obvious reasons, getting stressed cannot be a treatment option for people suffering from autoimmune diseases!
The entire field of immune functioning and stress is relatively new and there are a lot of tentative findings. We can outline the basic facts as—
• We are subjected to different stressors both in terms of frequency and duration. The stress pattern will determine the level of our stress response.
• The magnitude and duration of the stress response will determine the level at which the immune system functions.
• The level of functioning of our immune system determines what diseases we get and how we fight off infections.
There are many subtleties involved in the simple steps outlined above. We will look at some specific cases where there is a link between stress and diseases associated with immune system dysfunction. To understand this linkage, we will only look at those instances where these linkages have been conclusively established in proper scientific studies.