Stress And Microglia Illness

The microglia of the brain, which were ignored by scientists for 70 years until recently, appear to have a great deal to do with our health. Microglia are activated after TBI and often do not shut down after their immune response should be over. This causes chronic neuro-inflammation, which can lead to dementia, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s and more. Stress has been found to create microglia activation – yet another strike against stress in our stressful lives.

In fact, stress caused by “repeated social defeat” failure at dating or work, for example, actually activates microglial and harms the immune system, leading to widespread susceptibility to a variety of illnesses. (Ramirez, K. et al. 2016)