Don’t worry, be happy

This universally sage advice can now officially be applied to a whole host of inflammatory disorders. A creative study carried out in the Bronx recruited over 200 locals to record their emotions via iPhone when prompted 5 times daily for 14 days. Then, at a median of 3 days following completion of this two-week emotional e-journaling, patients presented to give a blood sample to measure a variety of inflammatory markers. Recording “negative affect” emotions within one week (but not within two weeks) prior to blood draw was associated with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines on multivariate analysis. This was especially true among men and appeared temporally impacted such that higher levels were seen when negative emotions were recorded closer to time of blood draw. TBL: Inflammation may turn out to be 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. | Graham-Engeland, Brain Behav Immun 2018