The Immune System

How does psychological wellness affect the immune system?

In the Psychological Journal, The Immune System as a Sensory System: Implications for Psychology, they state that the brain and immune system are connected. They both function with each other. This means that the immune system can be influenced by and on psychological processes. In the journal they state, “Recent work shows that the products of immune cells released in response to infection and tissue injury potently alter neural activity, thereby regulating behavior, mood, and cognition.” This network illuminates psychological effects. Within hours these processes affect each other. They also state, “It is important to understand that these changes are adaptive responses that promote recovery from infection, and not reflections of weaknesses produced by illness”.  There is a direct link to the immune system and psychological wellness through proteins called Cytokines. They transmit information to the brain, and it responds accordingly. It has been found that the immune system and stressors behave in similar fashions. They both activate the sympathetic nervous system, and behave in similar ways such as eliciting restraint.

Since our fight or flight responses need certain systems to properly function, some need to be shut down to deal with the stressor that triggers it. In the journal, Current Directions in Psychological Science, they take a look at how stress affects the immune system. Depending on the circumstance, these two systems work together to respond to the threat. It is a balancing act of sorts. In the journal they state “Exposure to stressful experiences can diminish a variety of immune functions”. The lymphocytes are affected and thereby cause a reduction in immune responses. It has also been found that stress can induce a psychological state. Among laboratory animals, depressive behaviors were cataloged after stress was introduced. The system can become damaged with too much stress. They say, “For example, evidence suggests that chronic exposure to stressors or distress can cause atrophy in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, resulting in memory loss. Chronic exposure to stressful circumstances has also been shown to increases vulnerability to upper respiratory infections in individuals exposed to a virus”.

Psychological wellness has an effect on the immune system. In fact, they are linked together and work with each other to deal with life. When we are under psychological stress, many immune functions can be weakened. It pays to stay psychologically healthy! 

Life's Greatest Miracle Reflection

     This film was about the difficult journey that humans must traverse to further their genetic future. It is a close up look inside the ovaries, Fallopian tubes, and uterus documenting the difficulties of conception. It details the entire journey of the birth of a child.

It begins with an egg being released, ovulation normally occurs 14 days prior to menstruation.



Sperm can live up to 7 days in the uterus. 

The journey continues with conception: The egg is released form the ovary and has just 24 hours to become fertilized. This happens in the Fallopian tube.

 Once the egg and sperm meet, they begin forming cells that will keep dividing.

They journey down the Fallopian tube and end up in the uterus, where they embed in the wall of the uterus to continue forming the new child.

Through the three stages of pregnancy both the mother and child go through many changes.

Most of the building steps take place in the first two trimesters leaving the third to let the baby grow.    

 I find the whole process of cells splitting and forming a complex life form interesting.

     If you want to take an in depth look on the process of a baby forming within the mother, this is a great place to start --> Life's Greatest Miracle 

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Reflection on “Bully” the movie

     This film evokes many emotions. It is a documentary on the effects of Bullying on children in schools. It details the lives of several children, and the results they and their families endured due to bullying on school grounds, and elsewhere. I recommend everyone to watch this film as it opens eyes to an everyday fact and can direct you to better educate yourself and your kids to resist bullying.

Here is the link: The Bully Projcet

     While watching this film I have to say, I shed a few tears. I have felt the effects of bullying from classmates and siblings, even bosses and so felt empathic to their situation. I am thankful that I was not a shy person, or suffering from low self-esteem, even though I was labeled geek, dork and other derogatory terms while suffering through grade and high school. The way I personally dealt with this unfortunate side effect of being different was to confront the bully. This confrontational attitude detered them from feelings of superiority and control and gave them the message that it would be difficult to continue that behavior.
     I wondered how the parents could be so oblivious to the plight of their child, given his demeanor and attitude. Unfortunately, the death of their child woke them up to action, and I am glad they are seeking to educate other kids and parents of the dangers of bullying. The one story about the child who acquiesced to the abuse of others under the idea that bad friends were better than no friends really saddened me. No one should have to choose this, and even though it is human nature to avoid that which is different, if parents educated their children better this would likely happen less. Tolerance is the key factor in suppressing this form of abusive behavior.

 

    This is definitely a public health concern as it attacks all ages with detrimental effects. There are long term effects on the psychological health of those being bullied.  

Harvard health states in regard to children:

 ” Victims of chronic childhood bullying are more likely to develop depression or think about suicide as adults compared with those who weren't bullied, while former bullies are more likely to be convicted of criminal charges.” - See more at Harvard Health

The Psychiatric times states:

“Bullying is recognized as a major public health problem in the Western world, and it appears to have devastating consequences. Cyber bullying has become an increasing public concern in light of recent cases associated with youth suicides that have been reported in the mass media. Most of the studies that have examined the association between bullying and suicidality have been cross-sectional. Those studies show that bullying behavior in youth is associated with depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. These associations have been found in elementary school, middle school, and high school students. Moreover, victims of bullying consistently exhibit more depressive symptoms than non-victims; they have high levels of suicidal ideation and are more likely to attempt suicide than non-victims”. - See more at: Psychiatric Times

It goes beyond bullying at school, and dives into the adult realm of work. The Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Norway has this to say:

“Several studies based on interviews with victims have stressed the serious negative impact bullying may have on both health and wellbeing. Although negative effects of bullying and harassment at work may also be observed on an organizational level, most of our research on effects has been on the individual victims of workplace bullying. However, in our study among Norwegian union members, 27% claimed that harassment had influenced negatively on the productivity of their organization”- See more at Univerity of Bergen

I feel that we can work as a society to combat bullying in the following ways.

First, we must teach our children to stand up to a bully. This may include not only reporting the abuse to teachers, parents and other authority figures, but literally informing the bully that they are not having an effect on the victim. If this does not work, and the bully is abusively persistent, the first step should be to have a meeting in a neutral zone between parents and children of both sides. If a solution can not be reached, then it should be up to the parents of the abused child to seek legal action against the perpetrator in the form of a restraining order or formal legal charges.

Secondly, we should teach all children to be tolerant to the differences of others. Each individual has abilities that others may also have even if there are vast differences as well. There is usually some kind of common ground to begin open communication with. Teaching children to be cooperative will have positive effects on their lives.  

 

Lastly, we should look into the causes that make people bully in the first place. Often times it is because they are bullied or oppressed in some way. If we implement programs for those individuals that have urges to behave this way, we might stave off the effects on other unsuspecting innocents.

Aha Moments

Taking Charge of your Health

There are 6 dimensions of wellness: Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, Interpersonal, Spiritual, and Environmental. I once thought wellness was merely physical, mental and emotional. I like that this horizon has broadened!

Vital Statistics: for a lifespan of 77.9 years, 66.2 years of living healthy, and 11.7 years of living impaired. Wow, that is a lot of impaired years! Quality is much more important than quantity.

Stress The Constant Challenge

General Adaptation Syndrome: Alarm, Resistance, and Exhaustion. I find it amazing that the body can cope with stress in the Resistance phase and develop more resistance to disease and injury than usual.

Managing Stress: Support, Communication, Exercise, Nutrition, Sleep, Cognitive, and Relaxation. It is amazing that we have so many methods of coping with stress!

Psychological Health

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Physical Needs, Safety and Security, Love and Belonging, Self-Esteem, and Self-Actualization. I find it awesome that to be self-actualized encompasses realism, self-acceptance, autonomy, authenticity, intimacy capacity and creativity. What a wonderful goal!

Defense Mechanisms: Projection, Repression, Denial, Displacement, Dissociation, Rationalization, Reaction, Substitution, Passive Aggressive and Humor. What can sometimes work in the now, really does you no good in the long run. We all have one or more of these and it is nice to have an alternative to these behaviors!

The Use and Abuse of Psychoactive Drugs

Psychoactive Drugs: Potential for Dependence. It is interesting that these drugs can have physical and psychological effects on the body.

Use to Abuse: 20 million Americans used benzodiazepines for non-medical purposes. Wow, it is hard to imagine why someone would affect their body this way for recreation!

Alcohol and Tobacco

Possible Health Benefits of Alcohol: Numerous studies showed that moderate drinkers live longer than heavy drinkers or even those who abstain. For people 50+ it can thin the blood and raise healthy cholesterol levels. I would have never guessed!

Who Uses Tobacco: 2.8 Million Americans between 12 and 17 are currently using tobacco. How do they get them? I am amazed that the laws in place do not work better!

Nutrition Basics

USDA’s MyPyramid: Grains, Veggies, Fruits, Milk, and Meat and Beans. The key messages are Personalization, Physical Activity, Moderation, Proportionality, Variety and Gradual Improvement. I like how they have changed the pyramid to reflect the representation of each of these ideas.

Dietary Supplements: 150 Million Americans take dietary supplements. I have taken “vitamins” a few times in my life, but real food tastes better. I am somewhat surprised that so many people will trade a pill for the real McCoy!

Exercise for Health and Fitness

Improved Body Composition: Only 32% of Americans are at a healthy weight. I suppose living in southern California I take exercise for granted. There seem to be many healthy weighted individuals around me, yet overall this statistic is shocking! More people need to become allergic to the couch and get out and moving!

Physical Activity Pyramid: Sedentary, Strength Training, Cardio, Moderate Intensity. I thought it was cool that you can go from an entirely sedentary state to a state of health at your own comfortable pace. By increasing your amount of activity, you can make positive healthy changes in your life!

Weight Management

Body Mass Index: to classify health risks of body weight. I was happy to see I fall within acceptable ranges! I have been underweight for a long time and only recently have I been able to gain weight to a desired level.

Body Fat Distribution and Health: Abdominal obesity is a forewarning of diabetes and heart disease. Curious to find this fact about how your body can tell you when something is wrong. It is beneficial to your health to pay attention to your body!

Personal Safety

Unintentional Injuries: Whether disabling injuries or death, this number is way too high. For death, 118000 people suffer from injuries leading to death. A staggering 25 Million suffer from disabling injuries. It is wise to check your attitude or behavior to avoid this unnecessary fact of modern life!

Elder Abuse: Every year up to 2 Million elders are abused by those responsible for their care. Not only is this shocking, but unacceptable. I think more people should speak out and report any abuse they may witness to help stave these numbers ideally down to zero!

Psychological Health

   It is amazing how we get stuck in the same rut without thinking through all of the choices available to us. The video “Broken Escalator” is a perfect example of this.

 

   They both appear to suffer from a state of cognitive distortion. They cannot believe that they are stuck on the escalator, a major snag in the day to be trapped with no escape. No one is in sight to appeal to for help. They must wait until they are saved. They let go of optimism when the repair guy also gets stuck on a different escalator. 

   This is not a psychologically healthy attitude. They could find an alternate solution, yet they are trapped within their own psyche. It is much better to search for alternative solutions than to give up!

 

Wash Stress Away

This is a stress soother that can be done anywhere and only takes a few moments. It is a meditation technique that I have used to “calm” my nerves or “cool” off.

You must take deep breaths throughout the entire thought experiment.

Close your eyes. Imagine in your mind a field of tall grass.

You are walking through it, running your hands over it.

You come to a small lake. The water is perfect so you dive in.

As you float watching the clouds, you feel all stress leaving your body.

Float until you have reached a state of calm. When you feel good, open your eyes.

Take a few more deep breaths and enjoy life!

This meditation is useful to let go of stress that builds up from everyday stressors. It relaxes your mind and allows you to “let it go”. It has a calming effect and will help reduce the fight or flight reaction of stress.

Nutritional Evaluation

CARBOHYDRATES - Examine Your Carbohydrate Intake 
I consume 376 grams of carbohydrate in an average day.
This represents 1504 calories. (1g = 4cal)
61% of my total calories are carbohydrates.
(recommendation 45 – 65% carbohydrates) 
This is within the recommended range.
No more than 10% should be refined food high in sugar.
Sort into
complex - Wheat bread, Whole grains, Starchy Veggies
simple nutritious - Milk, Grapefruit, Apple
mostly concentrated simple - Pudding, Lemonade

FAT - Examine Your Fat Intake
          I consume 130 grams of fat in an average day.
         This represents 1170 calories. (1g = 9cal)
         21% of my total energy are fats.
         (recommendation 20 – 35% fats) 
         This is on the lower side of the recommendation range although
         11% comes from saturated fat and that is 1% greater than the 
         top recommended value for that category.
         No more than 10% should be refined food high in sugar.
         I consume 163 milligrams of cholesterol daily. 
         Compared to 300 milligrams this falls within recommended 
         values.

PROTEIN - Evaluate Your Protein Intake
         I consume 122 grams of protein in an average day.
         This represents 488 calories. (1g = 4cal)
         20% of my total energy are proteins.
         (recommendation 10 – 35% proteins) 
         This is within the recommended range. 

VITAMINS/MINERALS - Evaluate Your Vitamin and Mineral Intakes
         Salt recommendation 6g. Convert sodium (1448 mg) into grams of salt
         (mg/400) roughly estimate amount added from shaker (1g).
         I consume 4.7 grams of salt in an average day.
         Foods I eat that are high in sodium are; Cheese, Fruit Danish, Bread, 
         Lunch meat, Milk, Pudding.
         How can you enjoy these foods without too much sodium? 
         I would have to look at the sodium content, and look for alternatives.
         If I homemade some of these items or just cut them out of my diet
         I would lessen my sodium intake. 

         CONCLUSION:

                    By analyzing my daily food intake, I have discovered that I do not eat 
                    enough whole grains or vegetables.  

                    

                    Performing this activity I found it interesting to see just how much 
                    food contains sugar, salt and empty calories. Things that I thought 
                    were healthy choices, turned out to be not as healthy as I previously
                    believed. Since I became a student, my eating habits have revolved
                    around my study habits. The time I spend each day studying "eats" 
                    into the time I have to prepare my own food and as such, I rely on 
                    prepared food that is not such a healthy choice.

                    
                    The changes I will make to my diet include eating more raw or whole
                    foods that are easy to bring with me to school. Also, I plan to spend
                    time on the weekends preparing meals to bring with me that do not 
                    cut into my study time during the week. 

Food Lables

Food inc. Poster

A Guide to an Inexpensive Workout

I have designed a workout for those who either do not like the traditional gym, or who cannot afford a membership. You will need flexible clothing and a set of at least 5 pound dumbbells. It may help to have a gym mat or carpeted workout area and a workout buddy. 

Here is a schedule of what components of fitness you will want to employ in your weekly workout session using the FITT principle.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
CRE                30 min	MS/ME           8 to 12 reps	CRE                30 min	MS/ME           8 to 12 reps	CRE                30 min	MS/ME           8 to 12 reps	CRE                30 min
FL                       2 to 4 reps	FL                       2 to 4 reps	FL                       2 to 4 reps	FL                       2 to 4 reps	FL                       2 to 4 reps	FL                       2 to 4 reps	FL                       2 to 4 reps

CRE is Cardio Respiratory Endurance

MS is Muscular Strength / ME is Muscular Endurance

FL is Flexibility

To begin any workout it is good to start with a warm up followed by some stretching and limbering movements. I also recommend that you follow up the workout session with more flexibility movements. 

For FL component: Remember to breath slowly and deeply, and never stretch far enough so you feel pain. You should hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds.

Head Roll: Sit or stand with your back straight. Lay your head toward one shoulder and hold for 20 sec. Roll your head until your chin is aligned with your chest and hold for 20 sec. Roll your head toward the other shoulder and hold for 20 sec.

Chest & Biceps: Stand or sit upright. Interlace your fingers behind your back and straighten your arms. Lift arms up behind you while keeping your back straight and your shoulders down and relaxed. 

Triceps: Stand or sit upright. Place your right elbow in your left hand. Reach your right arm overhead, placing palm on the center of your back and supporting the elbow in your left hand. Reach your fingertips down your spine. Keep the shoulders relaxed. Repeat with other arm.

Quads: Stand tall, holding on to a chair or wall for balance if needed. Keep your feet hip width apart, your back straight and feet parallel. Reach back and grab your left foot in your left hand, keeping your thighs lined up next to each other and left leg in line with the hip (not pulled back behind you). Repeat on other side. 

Hamstrings: Stand with back straight, abs engaged, shoulders down and feet hip width apart. Bring your left leg forward, heel down, toes up and leg straight. Bend the right knee as if sitting back, while supporting yourself with both hands on your thighs. Repeat on other side. 

Back: Get on hands and knees with your hands shoulder width apart, knees hip width apart, and back flat. Engage your abs and round your back toward ceiling. Allow the head and neck to fall naturally. 

Hip & Gluts: Lie on your back with your legs extended and your back straight. Keep your hips level and your lower back down on the floor. Bend your right knee, placing right foot flat on the floor. Cross your left ankle at your right knee. Grab the back of your right thigh and hug your legs toward your chest. Place your left elbow on the inner portion of your left knee and push it slightly to the side. Repeat on other side.

For CRE component: Running on the beach or dirt path, preferably with an incline, swimming or biking.Fast stepping on stairs, any where you can find them. (CSUSM has a bunch of stairs to explore) Remember to breathe.

For MS/ME component:

For Strength good exercises are squats, seated calf raises, abdominal crunches, push ups and dumbbell flies. Remember these are exercises using weights and low rep count. (8)

Squats: Stand straight and pull your head and shoulders back, chest raised and slight arch in lower back. Hold dumbbells in each hand keeping your arms loose at your sides. Place your feet shoulder width apart. Take a deep breath, keep knees in line with feet, contract abs and descend until thighs are parallel with ground bending at the hip. Reverse direction and drive upward, not bouncing. 

Push ups: Get on the ground and set your hands shoulder width apart. Your feet can also be shoulder width apart or together, whichever is more comfortable. Keep your body in a straight line, clench your abs and gluts, head looking slightly ahead. At the top, arms are straight supporting your weight. Steadily lower yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees or less. When your chest hits the floor, push back up to the top.  

Dumbbell flies: Grab two dumbbells and lie on your back on a bench. Support weights above chest with arms slightly bent. Rotate shoulders so elbows point out to sides. Lower weights to sides until elbows are fixed into a slightly bent position, stretching chest muscles. Bring weights together in hugging motion until weights almost touch.

For Endurance good exercises are body-weight squats, abdominal crunches, pull ups, and free weight exercises. Remember these are exercises using light or no weights and high rep count. (12)

Squats: Stand straight and pull your head and shoulders back, chest raised and slight arch in lower back. Take a deep breath, keep knees in line with feet, contract abs and descend until thighs are parallel with ground bending at the hip. Reverse direction and drive upward, not bouncing.

Calf Raises: This works well on a low step, use a railing for balance if needed. Keep knees slightly bent and not locked & toes facing forward. Raise your heels extending your ankles and flexing your calf. Hold for a second and go slowly back down. Lower your heels and stretch the calf. Hold for a second and slowly go back up. Breathe in on the way down and out  on the way up. 

Crunches: Lie on your back on the floor. Bend your knees with your feet shoulder width apart and either flat on the floor or suspended in air. Cross your arms on your chest. Keep looking at the ceiling and curl your back lifting your shoulders off the floor toward the ceiling using your abs only. Exhale as you go up and inhale when you go down. Remember to relax your abs between crunches. You can also raise one shoulder at a time, alternating sides with each crunch. 

Remember to breathe and have fun. Don't overdo it, you want to help your body, not hurt it!

Healthy Choices by AndreaD

Welcome! I am starting this blog as I develop healthy living choices.
I am studying mechanical engineering. I am interested in helping our society embrace more efficient forms of energy. I feel it is important to first, keep our bodies healthy, and second to keep our planet healthy.