Read the passage below and answer the following question:
BEHAVIOURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF ILLNESS: THE EFFECTS OF THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS ON HEALTH
- Cancer is actually a group of diseases characterized by a loss of some cells’ ability to function normally. These cells typically multiply rapidly, generating tumours.
- Individual differences in people’s reaction to nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco, help determine who will become a smoker.
- Both smoking and passive smoking are implicated in many cancers, in cardiovascular disease, and in sickness among children. Poor diet can raise our risks of cancer of the colon and rectum, breast cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Heavy drinking can cause disease of the stomach, liver and intestines. It can also impair mental and sexual functioning, and it can result in fetal alcohol syndrome.
- Inadequate emotional expression can adversely affect the progression of cancer. Emotions also affect high blood pressure.
- Persons who tend to be competitive, aggressive, hostile, and impatient are displaying a pattern of behaviours termed Type A. Cynical hostility puts Type A persons most at risk for heart attacks.
- Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a reduction in the immune system’s ability to defend itself against foreign matter. AIDS is transmitted primarily through unprotected sex and infected blood.
__________ can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity which is important in the defence against various infections and cancer.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Stress
Option (1) Perception — Incorrect. Perception is the way we see and interpret the world. It shapes how we appraise an event, but it is not what acts on the immune cells.
Option (2) Emotions — Incorrect. Negative emotions are the first link in the chain: they lead to the release of stress hormones, which weaken the immune system. The factor named for natural killer cell cytotoxicity is stress itself.
Option (3) Stress — Correct. Stress can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the defence against various infections and cancer. Reduced levels of it have been found in highly stressed people, such as students facing important examinations, bereaved persons and those who are severely depressed.
Option (4) Infection — Incorrect. Infection is what natural killer cells defend the body against; the question asks what weakens that defence.
NCERT (2025-26): “Stress and Immune System … There are several kinds of white blood cells or leucocytes within the immune system, including T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. T cells destroy invaders, and T-helper cells increase immunological activity. It is these T-helper cells that are attacked by the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV), the virus causing Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). B cells produce antibodies. Natural killer cells are involved in the fight against both viruses and tumours. Stress can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the defence against various infections and cancer. Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are highly stressed, including students facing important examinations, bereaved persons, and those who are severely depressed.…” |