Some folks wash their hands or take Vitamin C, zinc or echinacea to keep colds and flus at bay. But a new study shows that looking at sick people could do it. Mark Schaller, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia and his colleagues hypothesized that seeing disease-connoting cues promotes a more aggressive immune response in people.
To test it, the scientists asked a group people to watch a 10-minute slide show of images of ill people, some suffering from chicken pox or sneezing or coughing.
A different group of people watched a slide show of images of people brandishing guns.
The participants rated the pictures of gun-carrying thugs as more distressing than the pictures of sickly folks. But the bodily reactions were much different.
This was revealed in blood samples taken from the participants before and after viewing the slide shows. The researchers exposed the blood samples to a bacterial infection, and then measured the amount of an immune substance that white blood cells produce called interleukin-6, or IL-6. White blood cells normally secrete IL-6 when they detect microbial intruders. The higher the level of IL-6, the stronger the reaction the white bloods cells are having against a possible infection.
People who saw the pictures of thugs with guns had white blood cells that increased their production of IL-6 by 6 percent. The people who saw images of the infirmed had white blood cells that increased their production of IL-6 by 23 percent.
As Mark Schaller told Psychology Today in this Q&A interview, "It seems that there is something specific about seeing people who look diseased that triggers the immune system to kick it into a higher gear."
The researchers don't know why this happens, but they speculate it's a survival mechanism, enlisting mind over matter. "If you see a bunch of people around you who look sick, that's a pretty good indicator that you're in imminent danger of infection. Which means that this is one of those times when it'd be wise to allocate more of those precious bodily resources to mount an especially vigorous immunological defense," Schaller told Psychology Today.
In related "mind over matter" news, hearing phrases like "this might pinch," or "you might feel some pain," could actually make the pain worse.
Researchers at Jena University in Germany used magnetic resonance tomography to investigate how individuals processed words associated with experiencing pain. They found that talking about pain might make the situation worse, because it stimulates a part of the brain known as the "pain matrix."
In short, sticks and stones can break your bones and words may sometimes hurt you.
Photo: iStockphoto
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