Is stress is impacting your immune system?
The last two years have certainly been a challenge for most of us. Whilst some people have enjoyed more time to themselves and cutting out the commute time for work during lockdowns, others have found themselves juggling work with home-schooling, lonely without social interaction, or afraid of the effects of the virus. What does stress do? The autonomic nervous system controls digestion, heart rate, and blood pressure, and stress plays a major role in how these functions work. It consists of two opposing modes of operation: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. You have likely heard of the sympathetic nervous system, the “flight or fight” response, where cortisol production is increased in the adrenal glands. For a short-term situation, this is helpful as it gives you the...