The central and autonomic nervous systems communicate directly with the organs of the immune system. Therefore, what we think and feel and believe has a powerful ability to affect the function and size of the thymus gland, lymphocyte counts and ratios, lymphocyte function, and lymphokines and antibody secretions. There are a multitude of studies that have clearly demonstrated that stress, personality, attitude and emotion are causative factors in many disease. Reaction to stress is entirely individual, reinforcing the fact that people and animals differ significantly in their perception and response to various events. The variations in response help account for the wide diversity of stress-induced illnesses.
Stress causes increases in the adrenal gland hormones including corticosteroids and catecholamines.
This leads to significant suppression of the immune function, leaving the host susceptible to infections, cancer and other illnesses. The level of immune suppression is usually proportional to the level of stress. For those of us that breed and show our animals, we must realize that we place a higher level of stress on them than the majority of pet owners. Thus we have the responsibility of ensuring that we also provide them with the means and ability to optimize their immune system. If we are to strengthen the immune system we must consider what will bolster lymphocyte and other white cell counts, and their critical secretions, such as interferon and interleukins, and antibody levels.