“Immunity” is a defensive response that is innate in the body. Furthermore, as we grow older, we acquire new immunity through exposure to various pathogens and viruses, which is an essential system for humans to live healthy lives.
However, systems that are naturally built into humans can sometimes malfunction due to various reasons. In other words, if your defense ability decreases, you will be exposed to various risks.
This time, we will talk about the decline in immunity, which is important for the human body, along with ways to self-check.
table of contents
What exactly is immunity?
Immunity can be divided into innate immunity and acquired immunity.
natural immunity
It is a system that immediately detects pathogens that have invaded from the outside or abnormal own cells and eliminates them.
Acquired immunity (adaptive immunity)
As the name suggests, it is immunity that is acquired by remembering pathogens that have invaded in the past so that the next time they invade, the body can efficiently attack them.
When you catch a cold, pathogens are introduced into your body. The human body becomes resistant to various pathogens because the acquired immune system remembers information about intruders and has a mechanism for quickly eliminating them.
Vaccines use this mechanism to create immunity by intentionally introducing a very small amount of viruses or bacteria into the body so that symptoms are less likely to occur.
What happens when your immune system is weakened?
Immunity is the ability to fight against pathogens so that the body is not exposed to danger, so if immunity decreases, the ability to fight back naturally disappears, leaving the body susceptible to all kinds of pathogens.
Symptoms when immunity is weakened
in particular,
- More skin problems
- Wounds are more likely to become infected
- It becomes easier to generate a fever (on the contrary, it may become difficult to generate a fever)
- You are more likely to get cold symptoms such as colds and influenza.
- Conditions such as stomatitis and conjunctivitis that are easily inflamed, difficult to heal, and recur repeatedly.
- Difficulty producing tears or saliva
There are risks such as:
When your immune system is weakened, not only do you become more susceptible to catching colds, but your skin's barrier function also decreases.
Tears, runny nose, and saliva also play a role in protecting mucous membranes and eliminating foreign substances that have entered the body. Normally, even if bacteria invade through a wound, it can be resisted, but if the immune system weakens significantly and is unable to suppress the action of pathogens, sepsis (various organs are affected by pathogens and becomes damaged). It is not uncommon for it to cause serious symptoms such as
Even a small wound such as a thorn stuck in my leg or a scratch when I scratched it because it was itchy, should not be a problem, as it can cause infection or cause esophagitis after an endoscopy. Physical stress can easily worsen the symptoms, so you need to be careful.
In addition, people often develop a fever because they are more susceptible to infection, but as people get older, their immune system becomes less able to respond to invading pathogens, so they may only develop a mild fever.
Fever is originally a mechanism for eliminating invaders from the body, so if the fever does not rise, pathogens cannot be destroyed and the disease may become more serious.
Opportunistic infection
When your immune system is severely weakened, you become infected with pathogens and viruses that you would not normally be infected with. This is called an opportunistic infection.
Causes of decreased immunity
There are various factors that lower immunity.
- autonomic nervous disorder
- chronic stress
- Disturbed lifestyle habits (eating habits/sleep)
- aging
- cold body
- Luxury items such as drinking and smoking
- Arteriosclerosis
- pregnancy
- Specific diseases such as cancer and AIDS
For example, Let's take a closer look at the most common causes.
Disturbance of autonomic nervous system
Basically, if you are under constant stress or your daily rhythm is disrupted, it will lead to autonomic nervous disorders. Also, the point is that autonomic nerve malfunction is directly linked to deterioration of immune function.
The autonomic nervous system is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves; when the sympathetic nervous system is dominant, the number of granulocytes, which have a bactericidal effect, increases, and when the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant, the number of lymphocytes, which have a role in attacking pathogens, increases.
In other words, if your sympathetic nervous system is dominant, such as when you are irritable, irritable, unable to sleep, or unable to stay alert, the number of lymphocytes may decrease, and conversely, you may find it difficult to feel motivated, sleepy, or stay awake. In a state in which the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant, such as when the body is in trouble, the function of granulocytes is suppressed.
If both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are able to function in a well-balanced manner, the body's immune cells can function without problems, but it is important to note that when both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are sluggish, the overall immune system is weakened. Let's go.
Moderate exercise is also good for boosting immunity, but even if the sympathetic nervous system becomes overactive due to strenuous exercise, the immune system will be weakened for the same reasons as mentioned above. Don't overdo anything.
Luxury items
Alcohol is also said to weaken the immune system by slowing down the function of macrophages, the immune cells that eat pathogens.
In addition, the harmful substances contained in tobacco reduce the function of immune cells, and even if you quit smoking, the negative effects on the immune system remain for several years (the secretion of proteins called cytokines that regulate immune responses decreases) There are reports that the product remains closed.
Remember that even if you try to correct your lifestyle habits and be careful for a day or two, you will not see enough improvement to affect your immune system, so it is important to review your lifestyle in the long term. Let's leave it there.
cold body
It is said that when your body temperature drops by 1°C, your immunity decreases by 30%. However, unless there is an opportunity to consciously consume food or drinks that warm the body, it is unlikely that many people will feel the sensation of being warmed up. Many people may be aware of their sensitivity to cold.
pregnancy
Immunity is also weakened during pregnancy. This is because there is a system that treats the fetus as a foreign object and prevents it from attacking.
Others: Relationship between the intestines and immunity
It is said that approximately 60% of immune cells reside in the intestines. If you don't have good lifestyle habits, your intestinal environment won't be in good condition, and if you binge drink or eat too much or have an unbalanced diet, you will be chronically burdened and your immune system will decline as a result.
Self-check of immunity
Based on the above, let's do a self-check of our immunity.
| ☐ | Tend to eat unbalanced meals |
| ☐ | I may skip meals |
| ☐ | You may have trouble sleeping at night or be extremely sleepy during the day. |
| ☐ | I don't have the habit of warming my body |
| ☐ | Frequently engages in strenuous exercise such as sports |
| ☐ | I don't have a habit of exercising |
| ☐ | Stress accumulates on a daily basis |
| ☐ | Mouth and eyes become dry easily |
| ☐ | catch a cold often |
| ☐ | My throat often swells, and I tend to get stomatitis and conjunctivitis. |
| ☐ | drink alcohol a lot |
| ☐ | smoking a cigarette |
| ☐ | pregnant |
The more items that apply to you, the more likely your immune system is weakened.
Of course, there are some habits that can be changed if you are careful, but there are also some factors that are difficult to change. Lifestyle habits are not something that can be changed very often, and trying to force them to change can be stressful in itself.
Rather than thinking desperately that you have to improve your immune system no matter what, it will be easier to stay motivated if you start by making small steps to change things that can be improved.
summary
We have talked about the risks if your immune system is weakened and the easy self-checks you can do. Immunity is simply a word, but its functions are intertwined with various factors. If many of the items apply to you during your self-check, it's time to review your daily life to reduce the burden on your body as much as possible.
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Omotesando Helene Clinic specializes in regenerative medicine that does not place a burden on the body, and provides pre-counseling for those who cannot immediately start treatment.
"I'm curious, but I can't decide if prevention is really necessary now." You may be at risk of wandering life and death without realizing it, so Please feel free to contact us.
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