Healthy …and Happy!

By Shlomo Maital

   OK, so, I am an economist, the last person in the world to take advice from – especially in the realm of healthcare. 

     For what it’s worth –

      This is my theory about good health,  gleaned from many years of observations of people around me. 

       The body has an amazing immune system, very good at fighting illness and fending off invading germs and viruses.  I think our immune systems, like our general good health and fitness, depend crucially on our frame of mind.  Depression, stress, worry, aggravation,  deep grief,  all those weaken our immune system. 

        So I believe that a happy, positive, optimistic frame of mind is crucial for our body’s defense to remain strong and up to par.  I have seen so many people succumb, after grieving and sinking into gloom.   And I think the link is with our body’s immune system.  If you are despondent and your will to live and thrive has diminished, why then should your body remain in fighting shape?  It is like a prizefighter, who has retired from the ring and grows obese.   If he returned to the ring, an amateur could defeat him.

         But – don’t take my word for it.  Check this out:

Autoimmunity Reviews. Volume 5, Issue 8, October 2006, Pages 523-527 “The immune system and happiness”.  Yoram Barak.

“Human ability to experience negative and positive emotions has an evolutionary perspective and the presence of feelings designed to influence behavior should thus be reflected in physiological and immune interactions. Emotions are intimately involved in the initiation or progression of cancer, HIV, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disorders. The specific physiological responses induced by pleasant stimuli were recently investigated with the immune and endocrine systems being monitored when pleasant stimuli such as odors and emotional pictures were presented to subjects. The results revealed that an increase in secretory immunoglobulin A and a decrease in salivary cortisol were induced by pleasant emotions.”