er, in relation to childhood asthma, studies have shown that children with chronic asthma improve considerably when away from their parents, having severed the link with family related stressors (Elliott and Eisdorfer, 1982). At the other end of the life span continuum, Glaser's (1996) research around elderly partners caring for spouses with Alzheimer's disease showed that psychological stress inhibited different aspects of the cellular immune responses. A large percentage also showed a poor immune response to flu inoculation, and small skin biopsies took on average nine days longer to heal, again due to immune system suppression (Zakowski, Hall and Baum, 1992;Glaser, 1996). By way of summary, this paper has examined the multi-layer concept of stress, both acute and chronic, and has provided evidence as to how stress is integrally related to physiology, (involving the CNS, the brain, and major glands). Stress impacts upon the human immune system undermining its immunocompetence balance. The affect on health outcomes can be proactive (through autonomy training), or cause disease. Specific personality types have been shown to place individuals at a greater risk of acquiring, and drying from, depleted immune related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. For women diagnosed with breast cancer, and gay men who are HIV+, early and continuing emotional and psychology support often results in the revitalisation of the immune system, positively affecting health outcomes. Children with cancer have been shown to not be aversely affected, and this is the exception. In all other age groups, including elderly caregivers of spouses with Alzheimers, stress does lower immune efficiency. In the case of HIV+ this immune deficiency is cyclic, due to on-going psychological stress. So, it has been clearly demonstrated that health 4outcomes, (short term and long term), whether using a proactive or reactive approach, are the result of the interactio...
