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Órgano Oficial del Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz

2008, Number 2

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Salud Mental 2008; 31 (2)

How important is psychoneuroimmunology?

Leonard BE

Language: English
References: 12
Page: 83-85
PDF size: 67.85 Kb.


Text Extraction

Psychoneuroimmunology is a recent hybrid science that encompasses immunology, endocrinology, neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology. However, the concept that the brain has a profound effect on the physical, as well as the mental, health is not new. For example, the Roman physician Galen, 1800 years B.P., reported that only 20% of his patients had a major physical basis for their medical symptoms. He also noted that melancholic women were more prone to develop cancer than those with a sanguine temperament. Anecdotal reports occurred in the medical literature regarding the association of different types of cancer with depression. Later, it was observed that the survival time of a patient with a serious, life-threatening infection (such as TB or AIDs) is significantly affected by the psychological state of the patient. The more positive the attitude to the infection, the longer the survival time. Thus, by the late 20th century there were numerous clinical observations suggesting that the brain has a major effect on the immune system, and conversely, the immune system can affect the mental state.


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