Stress linked to accelerated immune ageing

New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology found that traumatic life events and a lifetime exposure to stress and even discrimination is linked to a decline in health of the immune system.

The researchers looked at a condition called immunosenescence, where the immune system naturally begins to deteriorate with age as many worn out white blood cells are circulating with fewer new white blood cells ready to fight new invaders. Immune ageing is associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia and even the reduced efficacy of vaccines.

The research looked at 5,744 individuals aged over 50, blood samples were taken and each individual quizzed on life experiences with stress, including stressful and traumatic life events, chronic stress, every day and lifetime discrimination. After taking into account education, BMI, smoking status, drinking habits, race and ethnicity it was found that individuals with higher stress scores had older immune profiles with lower numbers of fresh disease fighting cells and higher numbers of ‘worn out’ white blood cells.