Scientists confirm direct link between stress and autoimmune diseases

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It took researchers 30 years to prove this.

They say all diseases are from the nerves. And in general, they do not lie. The Association of Stress-Related Disorders With Subsequent Autoimmune Disease has unequivocally proven the link between persistent negative experiences and the development of autoimmune diseases.

Scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm have studied the lifestyle and health of over a million people from Sweden for 30 years. About 100,000 (10%) of them have been formally diagnosed with a stress-related disorder, for example:

acute stress reaction;
psychological shock of various origins;
adjustment disorder;
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This group has been compared to those who have not had major stress problems in their 30s. The result turned out to be obvious and rather unpleasant.

People who have experienced prolonged acute stress are 30–40% more likely to develop autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases are called Autoimmune Diseases, a condition in which the immune system, for not entirely clear reasons, begins to attack the cells of its own body, causing the development of internal inflammation. Now one of the reasons has become apparent.

The list of ailments whose development provokes stress includes 41 autoimmune diseases, including:

psoriasis;
rheumatoid arthritis;
Crohn's disease (chronic, lasting more than 6 months, a disease of the gastrointestinal tract);
celiac disease (a digestive disorder associated with gluten intolerance).

Interestingly, people who received antidepressant treatment after PTSD were less likely to suffer from internal inflammation in the future.

Scientists draw from their observations one main conclusion Autoimmune Diseases Could Be Linked to Living With a Stress Disorder, Study Shows: if you are experiencing severe emotional distress, look for a way to get rid of stress. Your health and life span depend on it.

If the stress level is relative, you can try to deal with it yourself. How to do this, Lifehacker wrote many times - for example, and.

But in difficult cases, simple methods may not help, so it is extremely important to consult a specialist in time and undergo a course of psychotherapy or antidepressants.