How do our thoughts affect our emotional and physical health?

In last week newsletter, I explained how our thoughts affect our body thorough nervous system. This week, I am going to explain how our thoughts affect our body thorough endocrine and immune systems.

How do our thoughts affect our emotional and physical health? - Mind Medicine

Endocrine System

Endocrine system includes the organs that produce hormones such as pituitary gland, thyroid and adrenal gland. The hypothalamus is in the center and base of the brain close to pituitary gland. The hypothalamus links the brain to endocrine system via pituitary gland. Our thoughts affect the endocrine system and make it to release hormones. For example, Stress activate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. As the result, the adrenal gland produces cortisol that affect different parts of the body.

How do our thoughts affect our emotional and physical health? - Mind Medicine

Immune System

The immune system includes all the organs related to immunity in the body. The brain and immune system communicate with each other. The mental state affects the immune system. For example, depressed individuals have a reduction in the activity of natural killer cells (these blood cells are necessary for fighting and killing cancer cells). Therefore, it increases the chance cancer in depressed person. There is interaction between the mind and immune system.  In the phenomenon of immune conditioning, the immune system responds to the smell or taste associated to immunosuppressive drugs very similar to the drug itself.

In the next week newsletter, I will explain how our thoughts affect our body through gene expression, and our behavior.

Dr. M. Rashidi