Immune System and Cold and Flu Prevention

Bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes are all around us. They are ubiquitous and cannot be avoided. The body is actually host to many species of ‘good guy’ (normal flora) microbes—species that one doesn’t want to eliminate. Then there are the interlopers, the ‘bad guy’ microbes, pathogens that make a person sick. But never fear! A person is not helpless to defend against invasion. In addition to behaviors like hand washing, the human body has its own built-in defense system for preventing infectious diseases from taking hold.

The Human Body Is a Fortress

The human immune system is the main barrier protecting a person from infectious disease. Vaccines certainly help, but are available for but a few of the more devastating infectious diseases that have plagued mankind throughout history. Remember, microbes can't be avoided. In most instances, the things that prevent a person from getting sick are the cells and systems of the human body.

How to Help the Body Defend Itself

The immune system works without a person having to really think about it. But there are many behaviors that people frequently engage in that weaken immune function. To keep the immune systems in top-notch condition, be sure to do the following:

• Get plenty of rest. The immune system is overtaxed when the body doesn’t get enough sleep.
• Manage stress levels. Although life is often stressful, and sometimes anxiety can’t be avoided, chronic levels of low-grade stress sabotage immune functioning.
• Eat healthy, natural whole food. Human ancestors ate the right kind of fare. In contrast, modern supermarkets are flooded with nutritionally empty, highly processed food. Skip the Twinkie and have an orange!
• No need to fight a low fever. High fevers are dangerous because temperatures far above the norm can cook the body’s proteins. However, fever is a part of nonspecific immune defense, and low fever helps the body fight infection. Watch a fever carefully, but skip the fever medication if the fever is staying below 101 degrees.
• Take any supplements that the doctor advises. In a junk food filled world, many people do not get adequate nutrition through diet alone.
• Still smoking? Quit. This point needs little explanation. If the body is busy trying to fight a carcinogenic assault, it has fewer resources to battle pathogenic microbes.
• Less booze! Although there is much to be said about the healthy effects of small amounts of wine, consuming more than a glass of alcoholic beverage daily busies the body with detoxification and distracts it from immune defenses.

More Information on Immunology & Avoiding Cold and Flu

Keep checking the Suite101 Microbiology topic for upcoming articles on germ-fighting behaviors, ways one can actively avoid getting sick. For additional information see the Virtual Microbiology Classroom or the Suite101article on the early history of immunology for the medical discoveries that helped us better understand how the immune system works.

Sources

Bauman, R. (2004) Microbiology. Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

Talero, K. P (2008) Foundations in Microbiology Basic Principles. McGraw Hill Companies.

Note: This article is not meant to be used in the treatment of illness or disease. If you are sick, please see a physician, not a computer.

White Blood Cells of the Human Immune System

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