A jab for stress relief

A vaccine for stress sounds like science fiction but Dr Robert Sapolsky, professor of neuroscience at Stanford University in California, believes that it is possible to alter brain chemistry to reduce stress and relax.

This jab to reduce stress could potentially mean that relaxation therapies and prescriptions drugs are not needed to reduce stress.

When stressed we produce glucorticoids and it can be hard to turn them off in the face of everyday stress. These stress hormones can become toxic to the body and weaken the immune system.

However, the Stanford team have developed a vaccine that can short-circuit the effect of these stress hormones in rats before they cause damage.

While human trials are years away, the Stanford team have proved that it is possible to reduce the stress-induced neural damage.

'This could change society.' Professor Sapolsky's preparatory work was published last October by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.