The result of immune balance? The possibility of fewer sick days, fewer “dragging” days, fewer physical problems due to chronic stress’s impact on immune cells.

So what simple things can you do to balance and maintain your immune system?  Here are five:

1. Eat smart. Reduce processed sugar, increase fruits and veggies. The Mediterranean Diet is considered a very good immune health diet.
2. Get sleep. Research shows lack of sleep increases stress levels and weakens immune function.
3. Get exercise.
4. Wash hands often.
5. Take supplements containing 500 mg dosing of EpiCor. Human clinical trials show EpiCor balances immune response.

There you go. The Immune Balance Five. Go forth and do them.

The mind is an immune health amazement

medication for my allergies since I began taking an EpiCor supplement each day. How I’ve not had any serious cold or flu episode in that time, at least nothing that required more than some extra fluids and rest for a day or half day. How my kids have experienced significant reduction in missed school days since taking EpiCor.

Now, as a responsible health communicator, I cannot say that such supplementation has cured or treated anything.  To proclaim that, my experience and my specific  immune cell function would need to be studied and documented by outside researchers who could show causal cell activity that proved a mechanism of action that produced efficacious outcomes, and then observe similar results among thousands of other individuals, and then compare those results to thousands who took a placebo during the past two years, and thousands who took nothing. That study would need to be structured in a way that the results would be repeated at least 95 percent of the time (or higher) to demonstrate a confidence level that is statistically significant.

So, my experience is just that, my experience, and nothing more. There are some smaller clinical trials in which a number of participants experienced reduced cold and flu symptoms, but small trials are not considered definitive.

And what about my experience? Is it the EpiCor? Or is it something else that I’ve done in my lifestyle to improve my allergy/cold/flu experience? Am I washing my hands more often? Am I staying inside more and out of the outdoor pollen? Am I eating more immune-friendly foods? Am I getting more exercise? Is my stress level changed somehow? Who knows? I sure haven’t kept a journal of all these things.

One study that’s really intriguing shows that immune-related conditions might be mitigated simply by the power of the brain.

…”Scientists recruited healthy men and women and had them watch slide shows. All of the volunteers watched a 10-minute slide show about furniture; this was deliberately boring, to act as a control condition. Then a bit later, half the volunteers watched a fairly disgusting slide show, with images of skin lesions and oozing pox, in addition to garden variety sneezes and coughs. The other volunteers watched a slide show about guns–not just guns, but people brandishing firearms, and mostly pointing the weapons directly at the viewer.

The guns were important, because guns are very threatening–especially when they’re aimed at you–but they’re not related at all to disease or infection. The scientists wanted to rule out threat–any threat–as the cause of any immune response they measured. And that’s just what they saw. They drew blood from the volunteers before and after each slide show, and measured the levels of a cytokine called IL-6, a major fighter in the immune war. Those who had viewed the depictions of sickness showed a dramatic jump in IL-6 production–more than 23 percent. These same volunteers had no biological response to looking at furniture and–more important–the volunteers who looked at brandished weapons also showed no significant immune response.”

Many studies show reduced stress can improve immune health. Now this one shows fear of germs might also gird the immune system to work harder. Just goes to show how the mind/body connection is more powerful and mysterious than many realize.

See the vid below. It’s basic and brief, but makes the point: Get control of stress, and reduce your chances to getting sick.

I’m not a big TV watcher, but there are three TV shows that my family and I never miss: “24″, “Glee” and “Fringe.” (Wow, those are all Fox shows. And, am I the only straight, white male with a wife and grown kids who thinks Glee is one of the greatest TV offerings to hit the air in a long, long  time?).  I “use” those TV nights as little goals for getting my work done. A night eating out with my wife is also a goal. Golf and disc golf as well. It’s a goal  system built on small, frequent rewards.

Some recent literature also says that rewarding yourself can enhance your immune system response as well. The benefit comes indirectly–exposure to Jack Bauer or dark chocolate does not immediately impact suppressor cells or natural killer cell activity. The reward system can work by enhancing mood, alleviating stress and anxiety, and increasing a sense of well-being, all which can then trigger changes in immune performance.

Even the American Bar Association–always aware of lawyer burnout and stress-related meltdowns that frequently happen in that profession–advocates rewarding oneself as part of a stress-reduction/immune improvement strategy. So make sure you have some goal in mind, however modest, that can give you some sense of satisfaction and contentment, and keep your immune health in tact.

However, a lot of people may not realize that bursts of short-term stress–taking a final exam, getting scared out of your wits at a movie, sweating a job interview, watching your kid’s first piano recital, walking down the aisle at your wedding–may actually improve your immune system.

Me, I just got a new car. I’m going to let my daughter’s prom date drive it to the prom, to the pre-prom dinner and to the post prom. They’ll have it back home by 6:30 in the morning. This before I’ve even put 500 miles on it. Oh well, at least my immune system will thank me for that stressful episode. Just as long as I don’t put myself through that kind of stress every day.

A meta analysis aggregating 293 studies on stress and immune response showed some surprising findings:  “The study confirmed that severe stresses over long periods of time were indeed bad for the immune system. These situations usually caused a wearing down of the immune system.

“The real surprise, however, was that short bursts of stress, like one might experience in a test or public speaking, jump-started the immune system response. The two psychologists surmised that this was the fight-or-flight response which helps the body react to danger. They actually likened this response to a workout for the immune system.”

So when someone says “don’t sweat it,” don’t worry. If you actually do sweat, your immune health should be just dandy.

My kids - Erin and Jill

So my twin daughters are winding up their senior year in high school. We just went to the last vocal jazz performance of their high school career. The same thing will be happening in all the other music ensembles they are in for the next 2 months. The last this, the last that. In a little over 5 months, my wife and I will be empty nesters…literally overnight.  

So, from a health standpoint, what are the trade-offs when facing this new living environment?  Here are some pros and cons:

Pro – More sleep. My kids are up at 5:00 a.m. during the week to get to early rehersals.  So, regardless of whether I need to be at my office or a meeting by 7:30 or 8:00, I’m awake (but not always up) with them at 5.  If I can just start getting an extra hour or so of sleep each day, that could change the world!

Pro – No more school cold and flu viruses/bacteria brought into our house. We’ve been pretty good in the past couple of years in not getting hammered by every bug that breaks out in school (thanks EpiCor). Now that we’ll have no “feeder system” coming to and from a crowded school each day, we might be in extra good shape.

Pro – No more weekend trips chaperoning band students on a bus.  Mental and physcial health takes an uptick there!

Pro – Travel.  Periodic road trips to see the kids at college means fun. Travel can be therapeutic.

Pro – I get my way now. I can watch sports…not American Idol… on the hi-def in the family room and not be banished to the basement with the crappy TV.  Sports is good for health!

Pro – The kitchen table can be used for eating, now. Gone are two laptops always running, homework binders, and assorted other school projects living on top of the table, where we squeeze in a plate of food if space can be found.  A proper dining environment–devoid of pathogen-laden books, computers and trumpet mouthpieces–may reduce risk of illness.

Con – Two outstanding, loving, accomplished young people who’ve been a huge part of your daily life for 18 years are suddenly home no more.  Stress from separation anxiety is a new companion.  Gotta work through that.

So, which scores the highest? Multiple pros, or one giant con?

• Yoga props. Tristan Andrews writes about the Triangle Yoga Pose as an exercise that delivers multiple health benefits. I’ve written about yoga here before, and I think it has many merits, including immune function support. It’s an interesting story, but I would have liked her to list some sources. She’s a freelance writer, not a health professional. The immune health passage reads:  The muscles of your abdomen and the hip joints become more flexible. The reproductive system functions better with the intensity of this pose. It helps in creating a proper immune balance to help you fight diseases.”
• The stress of stress.  The Low Carbohydrates Diet, a blog of health book reviews, has a lot of interesting stuff that makes me want to seek out more. Some anonymous person named Meadow runs this blog. (Why don’t more bloggers give us their real ID!?!?! This certainly seems to be a legit site, not an aggregator-bot site).  Anyway, the blogger reviews the book, The Stress Effect. It was published in 2004;  the info–what I’ve gleaned from summaries–still seems timely. Says the blogger:  “The Stress Effect helps readers understand the connection between their chronic stress and illness, and provides effective programs for correcting imbalances and repairing the intestinal tract lining. It also offers suggestions for managing psychological stress; a commonsense diet that promotes balance;….”
• Adrenal fatigue. This was posted just four hours ago. Adrenal gland function, especially in women, can be a big determinant of immune balance, since the adrenals regulate corticosteroids, the stress hormones that can interfere with immune response if they are overactive due to high stress. “Prolonged stress weakens the immune system and inhibits the production of white blood cells. Our adrenals regulate physical energy, the body’s metabolic rate (your metabolism), glandular energy (thyroid health) and the oxidation process….and these processes, when out of balance, can lead to the onset of illness.”
• Balance Your Health.  Here’s a nice little post describing immune cell communication in layman’s terms.

As for immune health, I can’t find a lot of research support for the effect of massage on generally healthy people. But there are some very encouraging findings on specific massage efficacy among people with immune-compromised conditions.

One study among HIV patients:  “Major immune findings for the effects of the month of massage included a significant increase in Natural Killer Cell number, Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxicity, soluble CD8, and the cytotoxic subset of CD8 cells. There were no changes in HIV disease progression markers (CD4, CD4/CD8 ratio, Beta-2 microglobulin, neopterin). Major neuroendocrine findings, measured via 24 hour urines included a significant decrease in cortisol, and nonsignificant trends toward decrease of catecholamines. There were also significant decreases in anxiety and increases in relaxation which were significantly correlated with increases in NK cell number.”

And other findings among breast cancer patients:  “Participants, who were in the early stages of cancer, received 20-minute massage therapy twice a week for five weeks; others in a control group received no massage therapy. At the end of the five-week period, blood tests indicated an 11 percent increase in the number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells among the participants who received massage therapy. These participants also reported being less depressed, less anxious and less angry, as well as having more vigor than the control group.”

The University of Michigan Health System is also a believer.  I figure if massage can impart all these great benefits, doing it while I’m relatively healthy might be a great preventive measure. I think a massage on Friday afternoons around 3:00 might just be the ticket.

More stats from the 2010 Abstract:

Childhood immunizations percentages have generally held steady or even increased slightly. Sixty-eight percent of children were immunized against hepatitis B in 1990. That rose to nearly 93 percent in 2007.

Bone and joint conditions can result, in part, from immune system imbalance. The Abstract shows that in 2007, 53 million Americans had a chronic joint symptom (30 MM women, 23 MM men) and 46 million had been diagnosed with arthritis (28 MM women, 18 MM men). There is no comparative data for 1990, but I’m sure the raw numbers have increased greatly since America’s population has grown and the older age groups are growing in proportion.

Asthma is also an immunostimulating condition.  73 million U.S. kids had asthma in 2007, or had it earlier in their childhood. 223 million adults had some kind of respiratory condition, including emphysema, asthma, hay fever, sinusitis and bronchitis.

And finally, alternative, complementary therapies. These can impact immune health significantly. In 2002 10 million American adults practiced some form of yoga. That figure increased to 13 million in 2007. Those doing deep breathing routines increased from 24 million to 27 million. Adults practicing meditation increased from 15 million to 20 million.

And here’s my favorite: Americans receiving therapeutic massage increased form 10 million in 2002 to 18 million in 2007.

Yet, a couple of national consumer polls taken recently shows there may be an uptick in people’s outlook on their lives and well being. The Gallup organization recently posted the results of its ongoing American Well-Being Index. The index, started in 2008, charts people’s attitudes in several basic categories of home and work life.  Overall, the Well Being index for 2009 stayed flat, at a basis score of 65.9, no change from 2008. Within the overall score was a big 5-point rise in Life Evaluation, a measurement of people who say they are either thriving, suffering or locked somewhere in between. Other sub-segments of the survey showed small, fractional drops in physical health, emotional health, and healthy behaviors, and a significant 2.2% drop in work environment.

Another poll, the Consumer Reports Index, also showed some improvement in several sections of the study. The CR Stress Index in January 2010 came in at 59, down from 63 in December 2009. While anything above 50 is considered more stressful than a year ago (and under 50 less stress than the previous year), that downward motion is good. Maybe it’s simply the hope of a new year vs. the culmination of a crappy 2009 coupled with December holiday stress. Like the Stress Index, the CR Sentiment Index also improved, rising to 44.1 from 41.8 the prior month, the first significant uptick since June 2009. When the index is greater than 50, more consumers are feeling positive about their situation. When it is below 50, more consumers are feeling worse.

While these poll numbers remain in difficult territory, maybe we’re turning a corner. And, with stress levels impacting immune system health, maybe people are feeling a bit better physically as well. Of course that’s no reason to stop fortifying your immune system with immune balancing habits and nutrition. While balanced immune health may help offset physical illness in times of stress, it may also help when people are feeling good. You know, overdoing the eating and drinking, exercising too hard, partying and not sleeping.  You need your immune system in sync no matter what your frame of mind.