Keeping Your Immune System Healthy

Keeping Your Immune System Healthy

Laurence T. Gayao MD

The immune system has a vital role: It protects your body from harmful substances, germs and cell changes that could make you ill. It is made up of various organs, cells and proteins. As long as your immune system is running smoothly, you don’t notice that it’s there. But if it stops working properly – because it’s weak or can’t fight particularly aggressive germs – you get ill. Germs that your body has never encountered before are also likely to make you ill.

Steps for a health immune system

Your first line of defense is a healthy lifestyle. These eight steps can help support your immune system so it’s ready to fight those infections.

1. Eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
2. Get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
3. Get adequate sleep.
4. Take steps to avoid infections. Observe proper hygiene like washing your hands. Cooking meat thoroughly
5. Keep up with current recommended vaccinations. Almost everyone who’s at least 6 months old should get a flu vaccine every year. Now get the Covid vaccination as soon as possible. Vaccinations primes your immune system to fight infections before they get a hold of your body.
6. Maintain a healthy weight.
7. Don’t abuse alcohol.
8. Don’t smoke
9. Try to minimize stress

 

Get the Nutrients You Need

Food is your best source. Fill half your plate with vegetables and fruit, and split the other half between lean protein and grains, as the government’s “MyPlate” guidelines recommend.

Not sure if you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals? Ask your doctor or a nutritionist about that. Remember if you are eating the right food combination supplements may not be necessary.

There are many products on store shelves that claim to boost immunity but many of these products have not been proven scientifically to be effective in spite of all their claims because being food supplements they don’t have to pass approval from the food and drug administration. Some of them are out right dangerous.

Don’t overdo supplements. Taking too much can be bad for you. Your doctor or nutritionist can let you know what you need.

Manage Your Stress

Everyone gets stressed. This covid-19 pandemic has added a lot stress to many of us because of the many problems it has created that may be beyond our control.  Short bursts of stress may help your immune system. But lasting stress is a problem. It can hamper your immune system. Stress causes your body to produce greater levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

In short spurts, cortisol can boost your immunity by limiting inflammation. But over time your body could get use to having too much cortisol in your blood and this opens the door to more inflammation. Stress causes a decrease in the body’s lymphocytes, the cells in the body that help you fight infections. This makes you more susceptible to infections.

You can take action to tame stress. Make these steps part of your stress management plan:

• Get enough sleep.
• Limit alcohol and caffeine, which can aggravate anxiety and trigger anxiety attacks.
• Learn and use relaxation techniques.
• Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health.
• Take time for yourself. Practice yoga, listen to relaxing music, learn relaxation techniques, meditate, get a good massage. Stepping back from your problems my help get you clear your head.
• Take deep breaths. Inhale and exhale slowly.
• Count to 10 slowly. Repeat and count till 20 if necessary.
• Do your best. Instead of aiming for perfection, which is not possible, just do your best and be proud of what you have done.
• An important part of living is accepting that you could not control everything. Put stress in perspective. Is really as bad as you think? To often if just sit back, and analyze the problem, you may realize that it was not worth the stress.
• Welcome humor. Remember the phrase “Laughter is best medicine.”
• Build your support network of people you can talk to. Get involved. Volunteer and find ways to be active in your community which creates a support network and provides for a break from everyday stress.
• Learn what triggers your anxiety. Is it family, work, school or other things you could identify. Write a journal when your are stress and look for a source.
• Maintain a positive attitude. Make an effort to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Your mind is capable of processing just one thought at a time.
• Consider counseling, especially when you’re going through a very stressful time.

Aging and immune response

As we people age, their immune response capability becomes reduced, which in turn contributes to more infections and even more cancer. As life expectancy in developed countries has increased, so too has the incidence of age-related conditions.

While some people age healthily, many studies show that, compared with younger people, the elderly are more likely to contract infectious diseases and, even more importantly, more likely to die from them. Respiratory infections, including, influenza, and the COVID-19 virus and particularly pneumonia are a leading cause of death in age group over 65 worldwide. No one knows for sure why this happens, but some scientists observe that this increased risk correlates with a decrease in T cells, possibly from the thymus atrophying with age and producing fewer T cells to fight off infection. Whether this decrease in thymus function explains the drop in T cells or whether other changes play a role is not fully understood. Others are interested in whether the bone marrow becomes less efficient at producing the stem cells that give rise to the cells of the immune.