As aging is associated with immunological changes, the effects of stress and age are interlinked where a deregulation of the immune function can have a significant impact on physical health. On the other hand stess can both enhance and increase the effects of aging, with older adults often showing greater immunological impairment to stress than younger adults. Therefore a good immune response is essential to our good health. In the same way immunological alterations and disturbances can influence the progression and severity of a variety of disorders and diseases, including stress related disorders.

Also stressful experiences very early in life can alter the responsiveness of the nervous system and immune system. It is possible that prenatal or early life stress may increase the likelihood of altered immune responses to stress in late life. One such alteration to the immune system includes a decrease in the ability of white blood cells (immune cells) to carry out their key functions. One great example is temporary stress as seen in students during “examination stress”. This has been seen to slow down wound healing. Children of mothers who are routinely stressed during their pregnancy show decrease in immune function compared to children of undisturbed pregnancies. Similarly young children who experience abuse or neglect show abnormal cortisol levels indicative of a dysregulated stress response.

Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in glucose metabolism, blood pressure regulation, maintenance of insulin release, suppression of inflammatory responses. Cortisol is elevated following several stress disorders. Several stressful experiences can cause in areas of the brain involved in memory an “imprinting” during fetal development and early life can alter the responsiveness of the endocrine, immune, and central nervous systems for many years. An understanding of such interlinked effects of stress and age is important to understand and to determine the mechanisms involved, so that we can develop effective interventions in early and late life.

N. Singh, PhD. is the editor of http://www.eStressHelp.com
Mental Stress has an enormous impact on physical health hence the saying “a healthy mind is a healthy body”. The influence of Stress on all aspects of health has increasingly become an issue for all of us. This website contains articles and resources on stress and depression. Please feel free to use this article with proper referencing and outgoing link.

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Many chronic diseases commonly seen in pets result from immune suppression. Diabetes, allergies, breathing difficulties, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, recurrent ear infections, and even cancer, are all examples of an immune system gone wrong.

Some of these diseases can be treated by conventional medicine, or by natural remedies such as homeopathy, but many are lifetime conditions, and some are fatal. Conventional or natural treatments can be effective, but usually treatment is slow, especially where the disease is well established. Transfer factors can significantly shorten the course of the treatment, by giving a much needed balancing effect to your pet’s immune system.

So what are Transfer factors, I hear you ask?

Transfer factors are a set of messaging molecules that convey immune information within the immune system. Transfer factors also carry immune information from one individual’s immune system to another individual. They help the immune system recognize, respond to, and remember invading organisms which threaten optimimum health.

It was initially thought that Transfer factors were only present in blood. But it was later realised that they’re also present in colostrum. More recently it’s been found that Transfer factors are also in egg yolk.

All infant mammals (including human babies who were breastfed) receive colostrum from their mothers which helps educate and strengthen their naďve immune systems for the challenges of the time. Today, more than ever, we are exposed to new immune challenges. Strengthening our immune systems can be critical to lifelong health.

Suppression of the immune system can result in various illness and disease types including bacterial, mycobacterial, fungal, parasitic, viral, and cancer. Specific illnesses, diseases and conditions which can manifest as a result of your pet’s compromised immune system may include skin irritations, allergies, hot spots, continuous licking of paws or other body parts, skin lesions, and more serious conditions including epilepsy or other seizures.

Exposure to antibiotics, cortisone, vaccinations, almost all other drugs, flea treatments, worming treatments, chemical cleaners in the home, pesticides which find their way into your backyard every time it rains, and airborne pollutants, all cause an assault on your pet’s immune system.

4Life Transfer Factor Research has developed a product which supports your pet’s immune system like no other. There are many good colostrum products available (and which are widely used to boost immunity), which have only 1/30 of the effectiveness of 4Life Transfer Factor Plus. 4Life Transfer Factor Plus contains Transfer factors sourced from bovine colustrum, avian eggs, and herbal extracts, and has been shown to boost the immune system by 437 percent!

Compromise of your pet’s immune system may cause it to be either overactive or underactive. If it’s overactive, your pet may experience allergies, ear infections, diabetes, or hypothyroidism. In effect an overactive immune system may attack its own organs. Transfer factors act on an overactive immune system to balance the overactivity. An underactive immune system may result in mange, parasites, viral infections, or cancer. Transfer factors will boost an underactive immune system, thereby giving the immune system the capacity to overcome the disease condition.

Until relatively recently pet (and human) health was always approached by waiting for signs and symptoms of disease to occur, and then to counter them with toxic drugs which would either mask or knock out the symptoms. But in doing so, immunity was being affected adversely. This disease management regime is now being discarded by medical practitioners and veterinarians, particularly those who prefer a holistic approach. Instead of waiting until disease appears and establishes itself, sometimes with irreversible consequences, immunity optimization can prevent disease from occurring in the first place, and reduce the severity and duration when it does occur.

And immunity optimization can be achieved with the use of 4Life Transfer Factor. 4Life Transfer Factor deals with both bacterial and viral infections before they can cause disease. I highly recommend it for your pet.

For ordering information, http://www.powerbod.com/4life/us/healthyhappydogs/ftpricelist.php

(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith

Brigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest interest in holistic pet health.

Brigitte’s main site offers a special free report on how to improve your dog’s health and even lengthen your dog’s life! Claim your free report here: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com

For more information on boosting your pet’s immune system, go here: http://Treat-Pet-Disease.com

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The immune system is a very broad and complicated subject that can baffle most brains (mine included)
as you delve into the complexities of the system.

Luckily though, the basic concepts are fairly straight forward and should give you some
understanding as to why you need to look at your pets health from the pet’s point of view
and not yours!

We can start by saying that, in our case (i.e. dealing with animals) the immune system is what
protects the animal’s body from harmful substances. These may be bacteria, viruses, fungi, toxins
or even, in the case of cancer cells,products of the animal’s body.

For a simple illustration, imagine that the animals body is a country, then the immune system would include
customs and passport control at the border posts, the army patrolling the borders to prevent

illegal entry or an invasion, and the police within the country working on crime prevention.

The border itself represents a barrier to entry as do the skin and mucous membranes of our
pet. A lot of potentially harmful substances get stopped right there. Those that have the right
passport and visa are allowed in (food, water, oxygen etc). However, some insurgents(infections) might
bypass the border control, or have false passports and it is the patrolling army’s job to
find these and arrest them.

Similarly, some inhabitants of the country might indulge in criminal activities (e.g. cancer cells)
and it is up to the police to identify these and get rid of them.

Now remember that the country (the animal) is under constant threat from outside sources (infectious agents)

and from internal criminal activity (production of undesirable cells).To cope with this situation and survive,
the passport and customs officials, the army and police have to be constantly ready for action. They have to be well
equipped, well trained, fit and motivated!Any slip, and the door is opened for something
to go wrong (disease).This is why it is so important that you get the basics of petcare right because these factors
support the development and maintenance of a competent and primed immune system!

In addition to the “frontline troops”, the immune system also has a massive “administration” system in place that deals with
functions such as provisions, logistics, recruitment and so on.

For example. When an “intruder”(possible infectious agent) slips across the border(enters the body) and is caught by the patrolling army (a branch of the
immune system), the prisoner is taken to a safe place (another part of the immune system) for questioning.The authorities (immune system) go through
all their files to see if they recognise this intruder.They also have to decide what sort of threat, if any, this intruder poses to the country (the animal).

If they can identify the intruder and decide it is a risk,then they know what they are dealing with and can alert
all patrols, border personnel etc to be on the look out for this type of intruder.

If however they do not recognise this intruder (a new infectious agent), then they first have to study the intruder, find out how
it operates, train personnel to deal with this new threat, and then get that knowledge out
through the organisation. This obviously takes longer to do and involves a lot of “paper work” and “personnel” other than
the front line troops.

What we have described above is also the basic theory supporting vaccinations. By vaccinating your pet, you challenge the immune system.
The first vaccination makes the immune system aware of the potential threat and allows it to prepare and train it’s defences. The
second and subsequent vaccinations allow the immune system to test that training by activating the defence mechanisms it has prepared.
It also serves as a reminder to the front line troops as to which intruders they need to be on the lookout for.

Unfortunately, the immune system is not a full proof system. Like any other system it can develop glitches and malfunction
or it can simply be overwhelmed. When this happens, disease results and we look to other resources (surgery, medication etc)
to help the immune system win the battle.

Ironically, in some cases the immune system can work against a happy outcome. Organ transplants are an example. Here, although
the new organ is obviously vital for the survival of the recipient, the immune system will go all out to get rid of it because it
is perceived as being an intruder! Thus the need for a host of drugs to suppress the immune system and allow the new organ
to function in the new body.But of course, the immune system is then operating less efficiently and this opens the door for other
“insurgents” to invade the body.

The immune system is a complex, amazing system that we still do not understand fully. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t
do our best to ensure that it is in the best possible shape throughout a pet’s lifetime by applying sound basic pet health
principles.

Keith Perrett is a Veterinarian.
http://www.pet-health-for-humans.com

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