World MS Day: Can modern urban living worsen autoimmune conditions? Doctors discuss stress, routine, and inflammation
With cities becoming more crowded, noisier and more demanding, doctors are increasingly looking at how modern urban lifestyles may affect autoimmune conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Held every year on May 30, World MS Day highlights the challenges faced by people living with this chronic neurological disorder in which the immune system attacks the protective sheath surrounding nerves.
Although urban living in itself does not directly cause MS, experts think that factors linked with modern lifestyles can worsen inflammation and disease activity. Chronic stress, irregular sleep, poor dietary habits, reduced physical activity, pollution exposure, and lack of sunlight are all being linked to immune dysregulation.
“Stress plays a particularly important role. Long-term psychological stress increases inflammatory responses in the body and may contribute to flare-ups in autoimmune conditions. Fast-paced work culture, screen overuse, and social isolation in urban environments can further affect mental well-being, indirectly impacting physical health, says Dr Sameer Malhotra, Principal Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Max Hospital, Saket.
Hormonal balance, immunity, and overall brain health
Dr Malhotra says, “Routine also matters. Irregular eating patterns, sedentary behaviour, and disrupted sleep cycles can affect hormonal balance, immunity, and overall brain health. Vitamin D deficiency, common among individuals spending most of their time indoors, has also been associated with increased MS risk and severity.”
“The burden of chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases is now a silent killer in our modern urbanized way of life.” In recent years, however, there has been a definite trend toward an increase in autoimmune disorders in younger people in urban areas, particularly fast-paced metropolises. These factors can all impact immune functioning: high stress, poor sleep patterns, irregular eating, eating processed foods, sedentary lifestyle, exposure to pollution, and constant over stimulation with digital devices. These factors do not directly lead to autoimmune diseases, but can provoke a flare up, aggravate signs and symptoms, and help to quicken inflammatory reactions in a genetically susceptible person,” says Dr Praveen Gupta, Chairman, MAIINS, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Gurugram.
“The most significant problem is that many people become accustomed to fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, body pain, insomnia and chronic stress as a common experience in today’s society, unaware that one can remain hidden in the background of their health affecting overall health. Prolonged high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol may alter the balance of the immune system and develop into chronic systemic inflammation,” reveals Dr Gupta.
Stress, poor sleep, sedentary lifestyles, processed foods, and pollution
“Autoimmune conditions are often viewed through the lens of genetics, but genes alone rarely explain why the majority of the people today are developing chronic inflammatory as well as autoimmune disorders. The environment we live in plays a significant role. Modern urban living exposes us to a unique combination of stressors such as chronic psychological stress, poor sleep, sedentary lifestyles, processed foods, pollution, and even constant overstimulation. Together, these factors can develop an inflammatory environment within the body,” Mugdha Pradhan, functional medicine practitioner, founder & CEO of iThrive.
She says, “One of the most overlooked contributors has to be chronic stress. When the body constantly remains in a prolonged fight-or-flight state, the stress hormones such as cortisol become dysregulated. Over time, this affects factors such as immune function, gut health, recovery, and inflammation, all of which are closely linked to autoimmune conditions.”
Persistent viral, fungal, or bacterial infections
Another factor that deserves major attention is the role of chronic infections as well as the immune triggers. Persistent viral, fungal, or bacterial infections can keep the immune system activated for years and years, further developing a state of low-grade inflammation that might contribute to autoimmune processes in susceptible individuals. There’s also ongoing stimulants, involving vaccine adjuvants, and whether they might act as triggers in a very small subset of genetically predisposed individuals. The important point is that autoimmunity is rarely caused by a single event, it is mostly the result of clusters of factors interacting over time, such as infections, gut health, immune system regulation, genetics, environmental exposures and even stress.
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Another significant factor has to be the loss of connectionwith natural rhythms. Quite limited sunlight exposure, irregular meal timings, lack of movement, and disrupted sleep can affect metabolic and immune health. We now see so many people living indoors, sitting for long hours, and relying just on convenience foods while their bodies are biologically designed for movement, sunlight, and nutrient-dense nutrition.
Gut health also deserves equal attention. A compromised gut barrier and changes in the gut microbiome can majorly contribute to immune dysregulation and inflammation, potentially worsening the symptoms of autoimmune conditions. Because when it comes to autoimmunity, it is not just about managing symptoms, it is also about understanding the environment in which those symptoms are being created.
(This article is based on information available in the public domain and on input provided by experts consulted.)
