An Unusual Way to Boost Your Immunity

October 6, 2010 by  
Filed under Feeling Positive, Life Mastery

Would you imagine that just looking at a sick person could protect YOU against illness by boosting your immunity?

How Is Your Immunity?

We humans seem to have a natural aversion to those who are ill.  When we see someone who looks sick, we experience a powerful emotional response to avoid them. A new Canadian study shows that even *seeing* a sick person can boost your immunity to sickness. 

A Natural Immunity Boost

To for possible changes  in ones’s immunity, University of British Columbia researchers showed subjects one of two different slide shows—either a slides of people brandishing a gun, or slides of individuals who were obviously sick. To measure any changes in the research subjects immunity,  immediately after they drew a blood sample, exposed each sample to bacteria,  then measured the levels of a natural substance {interleukin-6 (IL-6)} secreted by white blood cells in response to stress or trauma. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a proven indicator of immunity levels.

Although the subjects rated the gun photographs as stressful than the illness images, their subjects blood tests told a different story — the gun images caused a 7 percent increase in IL-6, levels , but the images of sick people caused a 24 percent increase. Their immunity had obviously been boosted by seeing the images of sick people.

“It makes evolutionary sense that the immune system would respond aggressively only when it’s really needed,” said Mark Schaller, a psychologist and co-author of the study. “If I see a bunch of sick people, maybe a big infection is around, and I better kick my immunity into high gear. Many neurochemicals connect the brain to the immune system.”

Learn how to use your brain to=>> boost your immunity!

Posted by Jill Ammon-Wexler
Amazing Solutions