Love and heartbreak can influence whether we catch the virus

Susceptible to respiratory infectious diseases Like the flu or the common cold, it depends on factors such as gender, genetics or age. However, what is less known is that it is also strongly affected by our mood and emotional state.

Without further elaboration, there is evidence that important innate immune genes are activated in the antiviral response in young women who enter into romantic relationships. Love appears to be a powerful immune modulator.

Love and heartbreak can influence whether we catch the virus

The hormone cortisol is involved in a range of basic physiological functions, such as the sleep-wake cycle, blood pressure regulation, or salt balance in the body. At the same time, it is an important hormone that triggers states of alarm or stress in the face of physical or psychological risks.

What does alert status mean? Mainly the activation of defense mechanisms against real dangers, such as accidents, robberies and assaults or being late for important professional appointments.

But perhaps most interestingly, it is also activated in response to potential emotional risks that our brains perceive as threats: difficulties making ends meet, expectations at work, or the fear of failing a test. And, of course, there’s the threat of a romantic breakup.

Cortisol has a global effect on our bodies, preparing our bodies for fight or flight. Among other things, it speeds up the heart and oxygen consumption, and releases glucose into the bloodstream so that the muscles are ready to respond to real or perceived threats.

At the same time, non-priority functions are hindered during these trance states, such as appetite and even digestion can be cut off. Immune responses, which consume large amounts of resources and energy, are also suppressed.

This in itself is a wonderful result of biological evolution and natural selection that protects us and keeps us safe as a species. But only as something concrete. Because the body cannot be alert all the time.

Elevated cortisol due to life pain and chronic stress is associated with increased susceptibility to different diseases, particularly those related to the immune system and viruses.

The good news is that when in a relationship, in addition to noticing butterflies in our stomachs, we also experience lower cortisol levels. This can ease the stress response.

The long shadow of cortisol

In one experiment, a group of volunteers whose basal cortisol levels were measured were infected with a common cold virus. The results left no doubt: There was a strong correlation between the volunteers’ cortisol, infection risk and clinical symptoms.

These data were later corroborated by numerous studies that found the same relationship between stress and the likelihood of catching a cold. By the same token, caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients who experienced emotional stress showed higher cortisol values ​​and lower responses to the flu vaccine. Stressed caregivers had significantly lower levels of IgG antibodies than volunteers of the same age and condition.

Additionally, a macro-study in Sweden that included 144,000 people with PTSD and more than 1 million control volunteers found that patients had higher rates of very serious infections throughout their lives. The researchers concluded that early exposure to trauma may have a lasting impact on the likelihood of developing serious infectious diseases, because in children who experienced trauma as children, this susceptibility also manifested itself in adulthood.

As if that wasn’t enough, there is evidence that the traumatic stress caused by parental divorce in children can have permanent effects related to infectious diseases throughout their lives. A team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that adults whose parents separated and never spoke during childhood were three times more likely to develop symptomatic infections when exposed to cold viruses than adults from intact families.

Love and heartbreak affect us

In contrast, people whose parents were separated but communicated with each other did not show an increased risk. This surprising result was explained in terms of stress-induced epigenetic modifications of DNA that permanently alter the expression of immune system genes.

What about the heartbreaks we experience ourselves? Does it affect our immune system? Very big. So much so that you can tell whether a person is in love through a blood test! There are a range of biological markers associated with love. For example, in young women who enter a relationship, interferon pathway genes and dendritic cells are activated, which are critical for the antiviral response.

Published data shows that there is only one type of health and that there is a strong interrelationship between mind and body. The placebo and nocebo effects are an obvious example. There is a need to study the biological basis linking the two to develop new global treatment strategies to improve our quality of life.

* Professor of Genetics at the University of Jaén. dialogue.