Dr. Sheldon Cohen‘s keynote presentation at the 8th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine was published in International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (2005 Vol 12 No 3, 123-131).
Cohen summarized 20 years of research on psychosocial influences on infection susceptibility.
Cohen also debunks these pervasive myths of stress and disease:
- Myth: Infectious disease-causing agents is wholly responsible for causing infectious disease.
- Myth: Stress suppresses the immune system, which makes us susceptible to infections and disease.
- Myth: Stress overstimulates cortisol production, which leads to susceptibility to disease.
According to Cohen’s article, infectious disease-causing agents are not sufficient causative agents for disease. Our immune system’s modulating responses against viruses in our body determine whether we become infected.
We would also assume that health-related behaviors like smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep, exercise, and diet contributed to disease susceptibility. Cohen has observed that these behaviors were independent of susceptibility to the common cold across five different strains of viruses (including 3 rhinovirus types).
I don’t know what’s going on, but October has been a productive month for studies that show different ways to get heart attacks. For example, in addition to the “traditional way” of getting a heart attack, you can also get a heart attack by:
Being in a bad relationship (
Working in a stressful job (