How To Stay Well In A Room Full Of Sick People

Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean you have to. (Photo: mcfarlandmo/Flickr)

You know you’re supposed to avoid close contact with people who are sick with a cold or the flu. But what can you do when it’s your spouse, roommate, or kids who are ill? Or when your entire office is full of hacking and sneezing coworkers? (Besides washing your hands like a hypochondriacal surgeon, that is?)

Research suggests one surprisingly effective way to keep your immune system strong this season: de-stress.

Related: 5 Uncommon Tips To Beat A Cold Or The Flu

WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THE CHANGE

Aside from all the other multitude of benefits of de-stressing, the research is clear that stress has strong sway over the body’s ability to defend against viruses.

Studies have found that college students who are stressed out spend more days sick with cold or flu, and experience worse symptoms when they do become ill. Research shows that stress decreases activity of killer cells — one of the body’s first lines of defense against viruses. Experts believe that the stress hormone cortisol affects immune activity.

A recent study from the University of Florida found a close link between stress during final exams and the likelihood of getting a cold or the flu. For the six weeks leading up to and including finals, nearly 600 students ranked their stress level daily from 0 to 10. They also reported whether they were feeling symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, fever, stuffy nose, or cough.

The results: The worse stress a student reported, on average, the greater his or her likelihood for developing cold or flu symptoms. “Stress can suppress immune function and contribute to gastrointestinal dysfunction, which may lead to increased stress,” study author Bobbi Langkamp-Henken told Yahoo Health. Other research by Langkamp-Henken and colleagues has also found that higher levels of stress are associated with a greater probability of taking a sick day.

Related: Feeling Blah? Try These 4 Foods For More Energy

HOW TO DO IT

So you know you need to keep your stress levels down. But you can also try these research-backed tactics to boost your immune system and keep colds away:

• Pop a probiotic supplement. As Yahoo Health recently reported, university students who took a daily probiotic (beneficial bacteria) capsule experienced 32 percent fewer cold or flu episodes.

• Keep hand sanitizer in your purse, car, and office. When you can’t wash your hands or when doing so would be inconvenient, a dollop of sanitizer is very effective, infectious disease specialist Chia Wang, MD, of Virginia Mason Hospital and Seattle Medical Center, tells Yahoo Health. And seeing it on your desk or in your bag will remind you to use it frequently.

• Make sleep a priority. Research suggests that short or interrupted sleep can contribute to cold incidence. Keep your bedroom cool (between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit), quiet, and dark, the National Sleep Foundation recommends.

Finally! You Can… is a Yahoo Health series empowering you to achieve your wellness goals — once and for all. 

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