Is there any medical evidence that stress causes colds/flu and worse?

[DistinguishedSocialCommentator]

Hello

Looking at Google, I could not find anything from the national NHS site re stress can cause, facilitate the onset of colds/etc/etc

Is there any recent scientific evidence to confirm stress even over a period of days can result in colds, tummy probs, etc., etc Thanks

Stress affects your immune system so over the long term then stress can lead to more illness. Over time chronic stress decreases the amount of white blood cells in the body and these are the cells that fight off infections and illnesses.

Many thanks but is there scientific evidence backing that up, please?

Evidence from the NHS or a very respected source, thanks again

I think stress lowers your immune system. After being widowed last year, my hair started to fall out, I lost shed loads of weight and caught one bug after another.☹️

If you want to assess the evidence for yourself, there is plenty of research and meta analyses of research if you search any of the databases of scientific papers. If you want an NHS link:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/mind-to-mind/handling-stress/how-stress-symptoms-affect-your-body/#:~:text=stress%20is%20the%20first%20stage,in%20a%20more%20irritable%20state

Try searching for ‘published studies of the effects of stress on the immune system.

I can’t copy the link over but that gave me results from sites like NIH (National Institute of Health) and PubMed, both USA sites but informative none the less.

ETA try adding UK Universities to the search. That should give results from the UK.

Prolonged high stress levels is one of the risk factors for developing T2 diabetes, I know that much.

There are loads of studies about the effects of stress on your immune system!

An early one in 1991 by Cohen I think, but honestly - Google it and there will be multiple sources.

There are so many studies on this! It’s a well known fact.

Then please a post from NHS England or another site that is as repscted as the NHS England.

I'm aware there are many sites but I dont trust non uk ones

I'm going to look at the scotish links kindly provided by another FM here just before you posted

It’s really not hard to google. Other posters have far more patience so hopefully they’ve done your work for you.

Thanks to allthat have tried to help - the NHS Scotland link just took me to a page but no scientific evidence.

I have seen subjects by NHS england where they say "htere is no scientific evidence" - one was about stomach ulcers, so I though there could be one related to colds and flu

There's loads of evidence for this if you understand what happens to the body during periods of chronic stress.

Dean explains how stress affects your body and what you can do to help:
• stress is the first stage of the fight-or-flight response
• stress releases cortisol, suppresses our immune system, interferes with our digestion and can alter our blood pressure

www.nhsinform.scot/mind-to-mind/handling-stress/how-stress-symptoms-affect-your-body/#:~:text=stress%20releases%20cortisol%2C%20suppresses%20our,in%20a%20more%20irritable%20state

www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/news/cortisol-levels-severe-covid

services.nhslothian.scot/lcps/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2023/08/3.-Stress.pdf

www.cntw.nhs.uk/news/stress/#:~:text=Chronic%20stress%20increases%20our%20risk,system…the%20list%20goes%20on.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0928468003000038

The effect of stress on the immune system is on the A level Psychology specification.

Or are you looking for evidence for the specific example in your OP? Several days of stress "causing" a particular illness. That would be hard to demonstrate.

You can Google and get what seems like reputable evidence. BUT, if you want really evidence based, double blind, placebo, cross-over trials, its really hard to find robust evidence,-base on that.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465119/

For example- there are an awful lot of studies out there if you look.

Yes, there is a link between the nervous and immune system

Colds and flu are caused by viruses BUT if stress has wrecked your immune system you will be more susceptible and take longer to recover.

As others have said, this is established fact. If you wish to view the very many scientific studies on this, go to Google Scholar (search for "Google scholar" and you still be taken to the homepage) then search terms like "stress" +"immunity" + "infection" + "recovery" and so on. By and large, studies with more citations are regarded as most influential and reliable. You can also look to see the publication in which it appeared - Science and Nature are two good bets.

Exactly that, hence my distrust at reading sites other than NHS or equally respected but based in the UK

Thanks all again.

PS: What i read about a few weeks ago and most of the results on a web search supported "stress can cause stomach ulcers."
However, reading NHS, its a different story and one I tend to agree with - see link below

Its a bit like newspaper, click bait stories, ""??? Could reduce BP, etc, etc" Note the word , 'could."

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stomach-ulcer/#:~:text=It%20used%20to%20be%20thought,people%20aged%2060%20or%20over.

If you wanted to study the effects of stress on immunity, you wouldn’t use a double blind, placebo, cross over trial. That would be used for testing the efficacy of a treatment or vaccine.

OP, the NHS website is written in plain English so that everyone can understand it whatever their level of education or scientific knowledge. It doesn’t tend to give references or quote scientific evidence or go into details about studies or mechanisms. The most it will say is “studies have shown” or “there is no scientific evidence”. If it states something as fact eg “stress suppresses the immune system” (as in the link I posted to NHS Scotland) you can infer from that that there is robust scientific evidence to support that.

If you want more detail, you will need to read textbooks or scientific papers.

But to clarify, stress can’t cause colds or flu, they are caused by viruses. Stress can suppress your immune system though, the response to being infected by a virus.

Sorry, you have misunderstood me - the example I psoted from NHS England is good, clear, one i can trust and this is the kind of thing I am looking for. IE NHS or site like it that states something like, EG, "scientific tests confirmed that stress can ?????"

Thank and sorry for not being clear

ps - i will look again at link you posted

No, I didn’t misunderstand!

The NHS link I posted states:

• stress releases cortisol, suppresses our immune system, interferes with our digestion and can alter our blood pressure

If you read your link, it says:

tomach ulcers happen when there’s damage to the layer that protects the stomach lining from the acids in your stomach.
This is usually a result of:

• an infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria
• taking anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or aspirin – particularly if they're taken for a long time or at high doses

It used to be thought that stress or certain foods might cause stomach ulcers, but there's little evidence to suggest this is the case.

It doesn’t specifically say “studies show that H.pylori or taking NSAIDS can cause stomach ulcers”. It is implicit. The NHS doesn’t make statements unless the are based on scientific evidence! Otherwise every other sentence would start with “research suggests” or “studies show”… 😂

Does this link help you?

https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/look-after-immune-system#:~:text=If%20you're%20aware%20that,after%20your%20diet%20and%20sleep

I am not sure there are many lay resources “like the NHS” and based in the UK. I can post a link to a meta analysis (a review of all the studies on a subject) of research into the effects of stress on immunity but it will be very technical.