psychoneuroimmunology

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Ancient Greek ψῡχή (psūkhḗ) Ancient Greek ψῡχο- (psūkho-)der. English psycho- Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-wr̥ Proto-Indo-European *snéh₁wr̥der. Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron) Ancient Greek νευρο- (neuro-)der. English neuro- Proto-Indo-European *mey- Proto-Indo-European *moy-nósder. Proto-Italic *moinos Latin mūnus Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Italic *n̥- Latin in- Latin -is Latin in- -is Latin immūnisder. Middle French immunbor. Middle English English immune Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-)der. Latin -o-bor. English -o- Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek -λογῐ́ᾱ (-logĭ́ā)bor. Latin -logialbor. French -logiebor. English -logy English -ology English immunology English neuroimmunology English psychoneuroimmunology From psycho- + neuroimmunology.

1. The study of the interactions between behavioural, neural, endocrine and immune functions.

   “It's not bad enough that being sexually abused as a kid puts you at higher risk for acquiring HIV infection, incest and other child sexual abuse may have quite a negative impact on your health. This information comes to us from the field of psychoneuroimmunology, a branch of medicine that studies the impact of emotions, thought-processes and behavior on health. From research that indicates loneliness, depression, feelings of hopelessness, long term stress and lack of social support result in impaired immune functioning, it is possible to extrapolate that incest survivors, as a group, face the AIDS crisis at a significant physical disadvantage.”

   “This topic is known as psychoneuroimmunology, and it is slowly inching its way into fashion, mostly resisted by doctors and mostly hyped by faith healers of one kind or another.”