The research: Researchers from Ohio State University analyzed self-reported data from 179 university employees who completed daily online dairy entries and answered questions about their stress levels over two 14-day periods. Those who reported allergy flare-ups had higher perceived stress scores than the group without allergy symptoms. Researchers also observed a link between negative moods and allergy symptoms, though cortisol appeared to have nothing to do with it. What it means: “We know there’s a connection between our neurology and our immunology,” says study author and allergist Amber Patterson, which also explains why stress is known to exacerbate eczema, among other diseases. “What we ultimately found is that some people with allergies have a more sensitive neuro-immunologic trigger.” And for those people, higher stress levels over time might trigger an immune response. Patterson says a few subjects showed a day-to-day correlation between stress and allergy flare-ups, but the most significant results zeroed in on the additive effect of stress over time—each day you walk around on the brink of a breakdown builds up to result in allergy flare-ups. Bottom line: More work needs to be done to see if stress reduction techniques like mindfulness, meditation, and yoga can actually help slow down allergy flare-ups. But in the meantime, there’s no shortage of reasons to work on dealing with your stress sooner than later (these stress management tips from Dr. Oz can help). More from Prevention: 8 Ways To Outsmart Your Allergies
