About this Research Topic
Our brain is competent to regulate the immune system, thus demonstrating the relationship between the central nervous system and the immune system, which have extensive cellular communication pathways. When the balance that takes place in the organism between the adequate needs to face the environment and the available tools places the individual in a vulnerable situation, this position increases, and immunosuppressive pathologies appear. In addition, a situation of prolonged stress is associated with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and cardiac pathologies.
Psychoneuroimmunology is another branch of study that is currently showing the association of the impact of stress on the endocrine system, which maintains a bidirectional relationship with the nervous system, specifically with the sympathetic branch. Through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the adrenal sympathetic branch, the hyperactivation of the sympathetic branch can be observed on a continuous basis, as well as the sequelae in the organism of this activation.
In addition to being part of the basis of different diseases, chronic stress is in itself a psychopathology that is comorbid with other pathologies. This happens especially in those diseases that involve chronic pain, which produces a perception of helplessness in people.
Therefore, the aim of this Research Topic is to study the impact of stress on people's health, both as a pathological entity and as a risk factor in the appearance of other diseases. In the same way, it is intended to approach the study of stress as a comorbid pathology with different psychological and physiological disorders, and its affectation in the organism.
The main themes of this Research Topic are:
• The impact of stress on the organism in different uncontrollable or novel situations and environments.
• How stress impacts as a comorbid pathology in the presence of mental disorders.
• The role of stress in the appearance of chronic physiological pathologies
• The role of stress in pain-related diseases.
• How psychoneuroimmunology can explain the presence of certain pathologies associated with stress.
• The consequences of chronic stress on the organism depending on different risk factors.
• The factors that can be considered protective in the appearance of pathologies associated with a high level of sympathetic activation.
Keywords: Stress, mental health, immune system, preventive psychological action, psychoneuroimmunology, immunosuppressive pathologies, nervous system
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