Conference paper
Stress and Allergy
Biserka Radošević-Vidaček
Jelena Macan
Adrijana Košćec
Abstract
Stress is one of the components in the complex interaction of environmental, genetic, physiological,
psychological, behavioural and social factors that can influence the body’s ability to remain healthy or
become healthy, to resist or overcome a disease. Stress can alter neuroendocrine and immune mechanisms
of health and disease through various psychosocial processes. In addition, it can affect health through the
impact on health-impairing behaviours and on compliance with medical regimens. At the same time, the
relationship between stress and health is not unidirectional but bi-directional. Current views on the relation
between stress and allergy vary from the denial of any relationship that could fundamentally help in allergy
treatment to the widespread opinion that psychological stress can exacerbate some skin symptoms and
precipitate asthma. The role of stress in the genesis, incidence and symptomatology of allergy still remains
a controversial issue since the mechanisms of that relationship are not well understood. Starting from the
biopsychosocial model of disease, we introduced the Social Readjustment Rating Scale which measures
stressful life events, and the WHOQOL-BREF which measures subjective quality of life, into an extensive
multidisciplinary study of immunotoxic effects of indoor bioaerosols and lifestyle. This paper describes
the characteristics of those two questionnaires and discusses the relationship between stress and various
domains of the quality of life. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale proved to be a reliable predictor for
quality of life in the domains of physical health and environment. Future analyses will examine the role of
stress and subjective quality of life in allergy.
Keywords
environment; life events; quality of life; physical health; psychological health; social relationships
Hrčak ID:
312
URI
Publication date:
14.6.2004.
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