The Mind-Body Link
Many scientists once rejected the idea that the immune system, traditionally thought of as the prime internal defense system, worked closely with the nervous and endocrine systems to carry out its task. Such a finding would suggest that our mind could influence illness. Now an increasing amount of evidence is showing that the three systems are indeed working together.
Sometimes everything seems against you. You slip on the ice. Your dog bites you. Then, only a week before finals, you catch your sister's cold. A fever and the blahs compound your feelings of ill fate. These symptoms, however, are a sign that something is on your side. The immune system. And your brain too, according to an increasing number of studies.
The immune system battles countless enemies. Its wrath is unleashed on viruses, bacteria, parasites and other foreign molecules that make it past body borders and try to stake a claim. Immune defenses also combat abnormalities that arise inside the body, such as cancer cells.
Many researchers once believed that the immune system was an entirely independent entity in the body.
Now an increasing number of studies show that the immune system is tightly connected to the nervous system, as well as to another communication network known as the endocrine system. It appears that their three-way communication is vital for an adequate defense of the body and brain.
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