| | | I'll attempt an overview of the immune system. Please note, I am not an immunologist.
We are born with an immune system, called an innate immune system. It contains all the components necessary to identify foreign proteins, especially microorganisms which may be a threat. At birth, there are a number of types of organisms that, simply by evolution, we are programmed to be able to easily identify and mount an immune response to, which allows us to fight off the microorganism.
We also have an adaptive immune system. The response of the adaptive immune system takes time, as it occurs in the T and B lymphocytes--- these cells recognize an intruder, and then form antibodies to help definitively defeat the pathogen. This takes time, as in days to weeks, whereas the innate system is more nonspecific, and works by immediate release of a number of nonspecific enzymes and proteins against any foreign intruder.
Vaccines work by stimulating the adaptive immune system--- the most common types use weakened forms of the organism, and allow the body to naturally produce antibodies to protect against future exposure to that organism (or very similar strains). But in addition, we form antibodies to almost every organism we contact. For instance, once exposed to hepatitis A, we form antibodies, and typically can never contract the illness again, even if re-exposed. (Importantly, the reason we can catch the flu every year is that each year, typically, a new and unique influenza virus is released into the world--isn't that nice?) The reason we don't live in bubbles is that our immune system is designed to be constantly exposed to new organisms--- we have specialized cells that evaluate the new organism, see if we have already made antibodies to it, and if not, turn on the lymphocytes to make new antibodies. Even in complete social isolation, we are still coming in contact with new bacteria, which are everywhere (we each have billions of bacteria in us, our microbiome, which is like our enteric fingerprint, unique to each of us). We probably are coming in contact with very few viruses right now in our period of social isolation, as most viruses cant survive for very long at all outside their host.
What can we do to strengthen our immune system? There have been a number of articles discussing this recently, so I'll summarize
1) Get proper sleep
2) Try to limit stress. Exercising regularly can , in addition to helping manage stress, up-regulate your immune system
3) Eat a proper diet. By proper, I mean eat a variety of vegetables, eat some healthy fats, and curtail intake of simple sugars. Eating a sugary diet puts one at greatly increased risk of the severe form of Covid 19, so reducing sugar is probably the quickest way to reduce your risk of dying from Covid 19
4) Stay hydrated
5) Supplements: many of us are Vit D deficient- if you've never had your level checked, get it checked next time you have bloodwork. If you're rarely outdoors, take a supplement. If you're frequently outdoors, you still probably need one (I rarely see a normal Vit D level). Vit C and Zinc also would be a good idea right now.
Thats it. I know of nothing else PROVEN to help--- there are lots of claims, but very few other things scientifically scrutinized. I'm sure most of you have favorites-- I'll bet I get a bunch of replies listing personal favorite immune boosters, and that's fine, if you have the money, and if you feel like it works for you, be my guest.
I'll try to answer questions |
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