Don’t give up on meditation, relaxation and yoga just yet - you’ll still need them to help deal with stress in the foreseeable future, but a Stanford University researcher is at work on a vaccine to counteract some of the most damaging effects of stress, particularly the chronic type associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer and a depressed immune system.
The vaccine works on rats, but remains years away from human studies. The idea is to neutralize the glucocorticoid hormones our bodies produce when we're stressed before they can cause their damaging effects.
These hormones are part of the immune system and also help us fight off cancer and inflammation, but because we can’t turn them on and off selectively, they can become harmful to the brain and the immune system following simple stress. The investigator, Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience, has adapted a herpes virus to carry engineered neuroprotective genes into the brain to neutralize stress hormones and leave you feeling fresh and prepared for the next threat.
As this vaccine is not yet an option, learn more about stress and how to manage it more effectively on a daily basis using natural methods.
No comments:
Post a Comment