Experiencing short-term peaks in stress can improve one's ability to combat infection and heal physical wounds.

“In fact, were you to cut yourself very deeply while out on a hike in the woods, the other thing that would happen is that there would be a rapid inflammation response. And we always hear inflammation is bad. Inflammation gives us Alzheimer's. Inflammation is the worst thing. But the swelling is associated, the inflammation is associated with the recruitment of things like macrophages or microglia if it's a neural tissue. Cells in our brain and body whose job is to act like little ambulances and rush to that site and clean it up. And indeed the inflammation response looks horrible, it sounds horrible, but it's a great thing in the short-term.”