Activity 2
Reflecting on the lesson: Choose one concept in our lesson today, give a brief explanation about the concept and cite how would you apply this learning in your everyday life.
One of the concepts in our lesson today that was interesting for me is about STRESS AND IMMUNITY. From what I’ve learned these two words are very connected to each other.
In this lesson, the study of communication channels between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems is known as what we have known as psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). It appears to support some long-standing observations of the people, especially in the concept of when the level of our health is affected by our beliefs, feelings, moods, ideas, and how a disease develops. So, people under stress are less likely to eat well or exercise regularly, two habits that enhance immunity. As a result of stress, our cortisol levels are secreted by the adrenal cortex in association with the stress response which inhibits our immune system activity (Tortora & Derrickson, 2014).
In connection with our everyday life, we are aware that many individuals continue to be resistant to the damaging consequences of stress on their health. As a result, they are more likely to feel that they have a sense of control over the future, are committed to their job, have high goals for themselves, and have feelings of social support. Little what we know even if we get eight (8) hours of sleep, stress can still cause insomnia and various illness to us.
To be honest, I am very related to this as the semester started and as the activities and workloads accumulates, I forgot to have a proper lifestyle and prioritize myself. My health habits also changed including my body clock. Then, oftentimes, my mind thought of something like this, “nurse kinuha kong course pero mas mukha pa ako pasyente.”
Therefore, this lesson is appropriate and helpful enough for me to understand that in order for us to fight our stress and enhance our immunity, school-life balance, adequate sleep, relaxation, optimistic outlook and healthy lifestyles are some tips that we need to keep in mind. Remember that stress can weaken our immune system faster than anything else.
Reference: Tortora, G. & Derrickson, B. (2014). Principles of Anatomy and Physiology (14th ed.). New Jersey, NJ: Wiley