Stress and the Immune System

In our modern times, the day after Thanksgiving has been dubbed an important day in its own right, as "The Busiest Shopping Day of the Year." Holiday bargain hunters flock to the malls and outlets for extreme deals to load up for the formal gift-giving season.

With its high expectations for joy, moments of sharing, and perfectly elaborate meals and parties, this season is also known as "The Most Stressful Time of Year." For teens, this comes on top of stress from school, friends, family and additional activities, such as sports, concerts, plays, volunteering and paid work.

Often in the health news around this time of year, articles address holiday stress and how it can affect us. Not only can stress leave us feeling depressed, sleepless and anxious, it can also undermine our immune system as well as our overall well-being. This can lead to worse or more frequent illness, including colds, flu and prolonged infections.

Just in time for the holidays, you'll get a tour of the human immune system to understand how it works and how it can be compromised. Plus, you'll learn how to identify and manage your own stress to avoid its unhealthy pitfalls.

Defending Ourselves

The immune system is an amazing thing, and without it humans would never have survived and thrived for so long.

The immune system is also very complicated. Fortunately, though, the National Cancer Institute provides an in-depth but easy to follow tour for Understanding the Immune System.

Start with the Introduction to get an overview of this system's importance, and then click Next at the top left of the page to move through the site. You can also return to the Index at any time to browse the contents.

You'll uncover the basics of The Immune System, like what the "proper targets" of its attacks and defenses are, and the Markers of Self and Non-Self. How do you think these markers might work, chemically and mechanically?

Next, you'll take a look at The Organs of the Immune System and the Lymphatic System. What exactly are lymphocytes? How do the lymphoid organs and the lymphatic system work together?

Meet the key players in the immune system's battles, including the Lymph Node and the large cast of Cells of the Immune System. What role do lymph nodes play? Where do immune cells originate?

Now you're going to jump around the site's contents a bit. Afterward, you can browse through the rest of the contents, if you have time.

Meet two of the most important immune cells, the B Cells and T Cells. What exactly do they do that's so special? How does an Antibody work?

Make sure to also check out Mounting the Response to get the big picture of how the body defends itself against a health threat, and The Immune System and the Nervous System to understand how the systems are linked.

What evidence have scientists discovered that shows how closely the immune and nervous systems are connected? How could your stress level influence the efficiency of your immune system?

Chill Out

Now let's get a little more specific and think about you.

Teens and Stress go hand in hand, and this ThinkQuest site can help you to understand and manage it. Enter the site and read the introduction. Do any of the stresses listed ring true for you?

Use the menu at the bottom of the page to check out the site's different sections. For example, find out What Is Stress?, and read about The Causes and The Results.

Other than undermining your immune system, what are some other symptoms of unmanaged stress? Do you ever notice any of these symptoms when you feel stressed out? What do you think are your strongest or most common triggers of stress?

Next learn about some of the Physical aspects of stress. How does the chemistry of your nervous system act in response to stress? How do these chemical reactions literally make you feel? What kinds of chemicals can a person consume that seems to help boost the "happy" messengers? How do their side effects end up making a person feel worse? Do you know anyone who experiences this kind of roller coaster on occasion or frequently?

Understanding why stress makes you feel bad is good, but it's even better to know How to Prevent It. Along with regular exercise and a clean diet, there are at least 101 Ways to Prevent Stress. Print out the list and post it somewhere handy as a reminder, or share it with friends and family as an appropriate holiday gift!

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Newspaper Activities

Browse a current issue of Targetnewspaper and look for articles discussing ways to stay healthy over the holidays. What are some of the positive and negative aspects of this time of year that seem to affect people's moods and physical well-being? If the article offers advice about managing your health during this stressful time, does it match any of the advice on your list of 101 Ways to Prevent Stress? If it's different, add it to your list.