Better Immunity
This year has been extremely challenging for all of us. Due to Covid -19 pandemic. We have been experiencing extreme difficulties in our daily lives and stress levels are very high. All of us have developed a common feeling of grief of the loss of, how things were, and anticipatory grief of threat of loss of life.
The pandemic has caused the ultimate loss of everything we are familiar with. It has led to serious financial despair, illness and huge numbers of deaths, and a sick environment around us. There are severe emotional outbreaks including grief, loss, and mourning. “WE ALL KNOW THE VULNERABILITY, WE ALL KNOW THE LOSS”. Each person’s grief is personal, true, and incomparable to another’s. There can’t be any ranking of the loss, which almost each of us has been incurring.
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Fear or Anxiety has always been a normal part of our lives. But when it continues with an unbearable intensity and that too for a long time, serious side effects start emanating. It’s always triggered by a perceived threat, which lies in the future. It’s a basic survival mechanism that signals the body to respond to the imminent danger with a “FIGHT OR FLiGHT” response. In medical terms, it’s an essential part of ours for keeping us safe. The fact is that fear prepares us to respond to danger. In that situation, the body releases a flood of chemicals and hormones like adrenaline, into our system. This situation increases our pulse and breathing rate so that the body can get more oxygen. Physiologically it prepares us to respond appropriately to an intense situation, which triggers stress. After some time our body returns to normal functioning when the stress passes. But if we repeatedly and continuously feel anxious or stressed for a longer time, our body never gets the signal to return to normal functioning. This long phase of stress and anxiety weakens our immune or body’s defense system, leaving us more vulnerable to viral infections like CORONA.
What’s an immune system? The immune system is a collection of billions of cells that travel through the bloodstream. They move in and out of tissues and organs, defending the body against the invasion of foreign bodies (Antigens), such as bacterias, viruses, and cancerous cells. The brain and body are not as separate as people think”, said Prof. Jonathan Kipnis, a neuroscientist. Once our brain senses a potential danger, our body releases hormones to an area of the brain, known as AMYGDALA. It helps us focus on presenting the danger. When we are stressed, the ability of the IMMUNE SYSTEM to fight the antigens got reduced. In that very particular situation, we become more susceptible to infections. The stress hormones corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system. Stress also produces an increase in blood cholesterol levels through the actions of adrenaline and noradrenaline on the release of free fatty acids.
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In simple language, the main type of immune cells is white blood cells. They are “lymphocytes or T cells, and phagocyte or B cells”, also called (defending cells). Our T cells and B cells work together as a team to combat infection. But they have quite different functions that enable them to deal with a large variety of threats. B cells make antibodies and directly neutralize infections to the extent possible. Inflammation is the outcome of that. T cells are broadly divided into two categories. T helper cells and cytotoxic cells. These cytotoxic T cells directly kill viruses and cells that viruses have already infected. T helper cells support the functions of B cells and cytotoxic cells. Collectively these are known as “effector cells”.
We are almost in the middle of the peak of the epidemic of the corona virus. This is a hard time for everyone. We have been experiencing unprecedented situations in our lives. Most of the time, we are finding ourselves alone in this fight. In the last fortnight, we have seen the extreme loss of loved ones across the country. Nobody has been left unaffected. Anxiety is the obvious outcome of a sad situation. Mainstream media and social media is telecasting pictures of dead bodies and cremation grounds. They are creating an extremely unbearable situation. Our brains get stuck in those situations and develop stress and anxiety.
An excessive and persistent state of anxiety can have a devastating effect on our physical and mental health. Stress reduces the effectiveness of the immune system. Loneliness and isolation too can trigger or worsen the level of anxiety. Lack of sleep can exacerbate anxious thoughts and feelings. In these situations, excess intake of Caffeine and alcohol can make anxiety worse.
We need to consciously work on our complete thought process in this challenging time. We need to be extra kind to ourselves by virtually meeting people, friends, and family members with an open heart. We should share our worries, concerns with trusted ones, to cut down the level of anxiety level. Powerful, joyful, loving thoughts stem from our willingness to allow the world to be as it is will help us in coming out of this situation calmly and peacefully.
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Exercise is also a natural stress buster and anxiety reliever. We are all in this together and we must emerge with a renewed appreciation for interconnectedness. We should be in a mental state of inner bliss, where we must stop fighting dilemmas and conflicts of right or wrong and what will be the next. Being available to others, in need, is critical to get through this time, and also creates more purpose for life. An important part of this process is to acknowledge that you do have the capacity to turn around this situation by taking small, sustained steps towards positive changes. When we forget, we have this power, we tend to feel stuck or helpless. Let’s keep on reminding you that we have the power to change this difficult situation. It will help in cutting down our anxiety levels and also keep our immune system intact.
Tags: #better, #boost, #coronavirus, #covid-19, #exercise, #getgreengetgrowing, #gngagritech, #greenstories, #immunesystem, #immunity, #pandemic, better immunity, more positivity
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