How Perceived Social Support Impacts our Stress & Immune Systems (Miller et al., 2009)

Описание: I. The Link Between Family Stress And Asthma
Doctors have long believed stress contributes to asthma symptoms.
Stress from family turmoil is particularly detrimental to health.
Family difficulties are linked to increased symptom expression.
Problems at home correlate with worse pulmonary function.
Chronic stress may trigger attacks and worsen lung performance.

II. The Cortisol Paradox Explained
Stress triggers cortisol, which usually suppresses inflammation.
Theoretically, stress should help asthma by releasing cortisol.
However, chronic stress creates glucocorticoid resistance.
This resistance makes the body ignore cortisol's signals.
This allows airway inflammation to flourish despite high cortisol.
This explains why stress worsens asthma despite cortisol release.

III. Study Findings On Parental Support
Researchers studied 67 asthmatic kids and 76 healthy controls.
They measured how much support children felt from their parents.
Low parental support was linked to higher drug resistance.
This effect was specific to children with asthma.
Healthy children did not show this biological response to stress.
Socioeconomic status did not explain these specific results.

IV. Biological Mechanisms Revealed
Cells were tested with hydrocortisone to measure sensitivity.
Low support linked to resistance in IL-5 and IFN-g production.
These cytokines regulate allergic immune responses.
Low support also correlated with higher eosinophil activation.
Eosinophil proteins are markers of airway inflammation.
Inflammation increased as parental support decreased.

V. Implications For Treatment
Strained relations diminish the ability to regulate cytokines.
This may explain why some patients respond poorly to steroids.
Unsupportive relationships could play a role in therapy response.
Assessing family environments could help improve patient outcomes.
Parental support helps regulate biological disease drivers.

#asthma #asthmaprevention #parentalsupport #socialsupport #CortisolResistance #stress #stressbiology #pediatrichealth #stressandhealth #AsthmaResearch #immunology #familyhealth #familyhealthcare #medicalscience #medschool

Source:
Miller, G. E., Gaudin, A., Zysk, E., & Chen, E. (2009). Parental support and cytokine activity in childhood asthma: The role of glucocorticoid sensitivity. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 123(4), 824-830.

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