Seeing Sickness Can Trigger Your Immune System — Dave’s Diary

The with cold and flu season coming on, it’s time to tip our cap to the bodies top germ fighter. The immune system is an amazing thing.  It’s the first line of defense against illness and infection. Now new research shows just how much of a “high Alert” system we have!

It seems just looking at a sick person is enough to kick your immune system into overdrive, according to a recent study from the University of British Columbia. Researchers discovered that volunteers who looked at photographs of sick people had their immune systems elicit a strong response -- the body's way of helping to fight off pathogens.

In this study, two groups of volunteers were shown photos. One group looked at slide shows of furniture, while the other saw images related to disease and illness. Blood samples were taken from the study participants, and the researchers added bacteria to them. The group that looked at the slides of disease showed a stronger immune response in their blood samples. The study results were published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.