STRESS AND ENDOMETRIOSIS
Psychologists and psychiatrists have been examining the effects of Stress on the immune system. How do we cope with stress? Do we fed reasonably able to deal effectively with the world and maintain a positive sense of self, or do we feel helpless, as if no effort can make a difference? What if endometriosis is the outcome of the immune system’s collapse of effort?
In a study measuring the correlation between the psychological symptoms of stress to natural killer cell activity. Dr. Steven E. Locke at Beth Israel hospital in Boston reported in Psychoiomatxc Medicine that «symptoms such as anxiety and depression may negatively affect immunity.» Those who were good at coping with life’s vicissitudes tended to have «significantly higher natural killer cell activity» than those who felt a greater lack of control over the environment.
Transcendental meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback (wherein one literally learns to control the calming alpha waves produced by the brain), guided imaging, and other mind-control techniques have been studied extensively in laboratories and hospitals. Cancer patients have used many of these techniques to reduce pain and, in some cases, to fire immune system regeneration—in effect, curing themselves, or Creating an environment where cure is more possible. Stress, as such, is not a fixed quantity: what is negatively stressful for one person may be of little consequence to another. For now, much of the data indicates that stress cm contribute to the onset of disease.
Women with endometriosis tend to lead stressful lives – this tact cannot be denied. A persuasive enough argument has been made, in my estimation, for sufferers of this disease to consider making changes in their lives as a means of controlling the disease.
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