New Findings Identified on Mind-Body Connection

Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)  have provided the results of a new study revealing fresh insights into the mind-body connection, by finding how chronic emotional stress ages the immune system.

Researchers have found that the stress hormone cortisol suppresses immune cells’ ability to activate enzymes that keep the cells young by preserving their ability to continue dividing. Every cell apparently contains a tiny clock called a telomere, which shortens each time the cell divides and according to the researchers, short telomeres are linked to a range of human diseases, including HIV, osteoporosis, heart disease and aging.


Many studies have already shown that the enzyme telomerase keeps immune cells young by preserving their telomere length and researchers insist that their latest study may help understand why the cells of persons under chronic stress have shorter telomeres. 

The findings show how stress makes people more susceptible to illness.

”When the body is under stress, it boosts production of cortisol to support a “fight or flight” response,” says Rita Effros, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and a member of the Jonsson Cancer Center, Molecular Biology Institute and UCLA AIDS Institute.

”If the hormone remains elevated in the bloodstream for long periods of time, though, it wears down the immune system. We are testing therapeutic ways of enhancing telomerase levels to help the immune system ward off cortisol”s effect. If we”re successful, one day a pill may exist to strengthen the immune system’s ability to weather chronic emotional stress,” the researcher adds.



We think a daily meditation practice is that magic pill and it’s free.