Negative thoughts 'make you ill'

[Guest guest]

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3198935.stm

 

Having negative thoughts really could make you more illness-prone,

say scientists.

A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences links " negative " brain activity with a weakened immune

system.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison studied people

with high levels of brain activity in a region linked to negative

thoughts.

Those with the highest activity levels responded worse to a flu

vaccine.

Scientists already knew that pessimists - people rated as more

sensitive to negative events - show more activity in a part of the

brain called the right pre-frontal cortex.

More activity in the left pre-frontal cortex is linked to positive

emotional responses.

Happy thoughts

Dr Richard Davidson, who led the research, studied 52 people aged

between 57 and 60.

Each of them was asked to recall one event which made them feel very

happy, and one which left them feeling sad, afraid or angry.

The electrical activity in these parts of the brain was measured to

check whether their left or right pre-frontal cortex was more active.

Afterwards, each volunteer was given a standard flu vaccine shot.

Vaccines work by eliciting an immune response which should hopefully

persist and help the body tackle a genuine infection threat if it

should arrive.

Each research subject was tested over the following six months to

gauge the success of the vaccine by measuring the levels of

antibodies generated by the vaccine.

Those who had shown the most powerful right pre-frontal cortex

activity also had the worst immune reactions.

The reverse was true for those who had the most powerful reactions in

their left pre-frontal cortex, the side associated with happy

reactions.

Dr Davidson said: " Emotions play an important role in modulating

bodily systems that influence our health.

" We turned to the brain to understand the mechanisms by which the

mind influences the body. "

 

Comments by Attilio:

I believe it is the Lung that is related to the immune system in TCM.

Of course, grief will lower the Lung Qi.

I think that negative thought patterns related more to the Spleen.

Excessive thinking causing spleen Qi deficiency, a lack of Qi and

Blood and therefore nourishment to the whole body and Zangfu.

The spleen is also the mother of the Lung and may therefore affect

the Lung/immune system in that way. Negativity can also be related to

the Liver, as negativity in itself is a form of anger. This will also

lead to Liver qi stagnation or Liver Yang rising. Liver Qi stagnation

can cause depression whilst Liver Yang rising can flare up and burn

the Lung (injury the immune system).

What do others think?

Attilio