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Happy Days Make for Healthy Bodies
Where our thoughts go, our health follows
Germs will never be eradicated. People will always get sick, catch colds and flu and pass them on unwittingly. Maintaining good health is the best way to avoid getting ill. It means you’ll be able to fight off the germs that make us sick. Looking after your immune system requires more than just a good diet and regular exercise. Evidence is beginning to show that your state of mind impacts your health too; possibly just as much as diet and exercise. Simply put, a positive attitude is linked with good health. Happy days lead to healthy bodies.
Positivity and ageing
Entering our ‘sunset years’, could be considered a depressing time of life. Our bodies start to become less able, our minds less sharp. Yet we have a say in how quickly our bodies and minds decline. It appears our health in the later stages of life is impacted as much by our attitudes as other factors.
One study by the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology found that elderly people — between the ages of 65 to 90 — that chose to focus on positive memories and information had higher CD4 counts and lower CD4 activation. That’s not to say that the healthier participants of the study had more positive experiences and input in their lives, just that that’s where they chose to put their attention more of the time.
CD4 is the protein found on our immune system’s cells. The main role is to communicate infection to our other cells, like the CD8 ‘killer cells’ and help to destroy an invading infection. This protein is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and one of our first defences against disease. When CD4 becomes depleted we are left more vulnerable to illnesses that we may otherwise be able to combat.
While the study focussed on people in their later stages of life, it is likely that our CD4 count is similarly affected by a positive or negative attitude towards life at younger ages too.
A positive outlook and your immune system
Our ‘feel-good chemicals’ — oxytocin, endorphins and dopamine have a physical effect as well as psychological ones. Oxytocin for example — a neuropeptide that is often referred to the…
