Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Exciting implications of the neuro-immune link no one is talking about

Keith Pochick, MD
Conditions
August 13, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share

A recent research paper from the University of Virginia may pound the final nail into the coffin of the long-standing medical dogma which rigidly labels diseases as “organic” or “psychiatric.”  UVA researchers have discovered a complex network of lymphatic vessels which service the brain, prompting a serious update of the concept of a highly selective “blood-brain barrier.”

When asked about methods to study the immune response of the brain and CNS, UVA Department of Neuroscience Professor Jonathan Kipinis explained, “Now we can approach this mechanistically – because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system though meningeal lymphatic vessels.”

For a geek like me, this is very exciting news. A review of the paper on ScienceAlert explores the paper’s ramifications:

The discovery could not only prompt a rewrite of the textbooks, it might also lead to a new understanding of how our immune system influences our brain and our behavior. But the discovery made headlines again last week when the team showed that the immune system could actually be controlling our social behavior through these vessels.

The researchers and reviewers of this paper assert that the immune system exerts effects on the brain. Please allow me to daydream and make a leap with much larger possible implications – what if the reverse is also true?  How much more exciting is the notion that the brain influences the function of the immune system?

After nearly four decades on this Earth and a decade and a half in clinical medicine, I am absolutely certain that the brain influences the health of the body, and the body influences the health of the brain. Every health problem is an organic one. Every health problem is a psychiatric one.

What if the dopamine and endorphins released after a challenging exercise session are making you even healthier than we thought? What if the serotonin and dopamine released while you eat a meal lovingly prepared by a family member are exerting beneficial effects on your immune system?  Maybe Grandma’s homemade chicken soup actually does have healing powers!  What if the serotonin released when you perform an act of kindness makes you more likely to fight off infections?  What if the dopamine and oxytocin released during satisfying sex with someone you love helps your immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells? What if the oxytocin released during breastfeeding serves an evolutionary function to stimulate antibody production, in turn promoting mom’s and baby’s health?  What if these ‘happy hormones’ promote immune function?

Couldn’t this discovery (and my creative daydreaming) help explain why happy people are generally healthier, and why depression can bring physical illness? I know it is a ‘chicken or the egg’ debate. Maybe happy people are healthy because they are happy. Maybe healthy people are happy because they are healthy. Maybe it is some of both.

I fully understand that research in immunotherapy and immunomodulating pharmaceuticals stand to make lots of people lots of money.  I expect that, for this reason, most of the research community’s focus will be on the ways the immune system influences neurologic disease.  But I sure hope there are some researchers willing to explore the opposite, because it could truly revolutionize our understanding of the mind-body connection, and the role of the brain in illness and wellness.  What if the most incredible and powerful drugs in the world aren’t made in factories and labs, but in our own minds and bodies?

When Descartes dissected the brain and found the pineal gland in 1649, he claimed to have found “the seat of the soul.”  Subsequent and modern anatomists and scientists have dismissed his assertion as quaint but absurd.  Perhaps he wasn’t guilty of faulty science or reasoning after all.  Maybe the problem is modern science’s difficulty defining the soul itself. Maybe we are about to do just that.

Keith Pochick is an emergency physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

MKSAP: 62-year-old man is evaluated for declining exercise capacity

August 13, 2016 Kevin 0
…
Next

Dear Hippocrates: I want a divorce

August 13, 2016 Kevin 15
…

ADVERTISEMENT

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
MKSAP: 62-year-old man is evaluated for declining exercise capacity
Next Post >
Dear Hippocrates: I want a divorce

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Keith Pochick, MD

  • Escaping the time warp: my journey after leaving clinical medicine

    Keith Pochick, MD
  • A Veterans Day tribute

    Keith Pochick, MD
  • Obamacare cost Hillary the presidency

    Keith Pochick, MD

Related Posts

  • Talking politics in the exam room

    Hayward Zwerling, MD
  • Medical facilities: Please keep your immune-deficient patients safe

    Denise Reich
  • Is there a link between readmission and a hospital’s non-profit status?

    David Lozar, MD

More in Conditions

  • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

    Samantha Malley, FNP-C
  • Why hospitals are quietly capping top doctors’ pay

    Dennis Hursh, Esq
  • Why point-of-care ultrasound belongs in emergency department triage

    Resa E. Lewiss, MD and Courtney M. Smalley, MD
  • Why PSA levels alone shouldn’t define your prostate cancer risk

    Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD
  • Reframing chronic pain and dignity: What a pain clinic teaches us about MAiD and chronic suffering

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

    Kristen Cline, BSN, RN
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • AI is already replacing doctors—just not how you think

      Bhargav Raman, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

      Samantha Malley, FNP-C | Conditions
    • Why more doctors are choosing direct care over traditional health care

      Grace Torres-Hodges, DPM, MBA | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 12 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • Why health care leaders fail at execution—and how to fix it

      Dave Cummings, RN | Policy
    • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

      Vineet Vishwanath | Tech
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • AI is already replacing doctors—just not how you think

      Bhargav Raman, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why doctors must stop ignoring unintentional weight loss in patients with obesity

      Samantha Malley, FNP-C | Conditions
    • Why more doctors are choosing direct care over traditional health care

      Grace Torres-Hodges, DPM, MBA | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Exciting implications of the neuro-immune link no one is talking about
12 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...