World Immunization Day: Let immunity take the blame

What is immunity?

After hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, humans have the ability to resist invasion by foreign viruses and bacteria. This ability is immunity. The immune system is like an "army" in the human body. There are "wars" in the body every day, but most of the time you are unaware of it. This is because the "human army" is in an absolute advantage. When you have a fever, body aches, runny nose and tears, and are in unbearable pain, it means that the "army" in your body has begun to "fight" and turn on the body's "self-protection". This "army" hidden in the human body is the immune system, which includes immune organs such as bone marrow, thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, and tonsils. For example, when the body temperature rises due to fever, the immune system's reactivity increases, the number of immune cells increases, and the bactericidal activity increases.

Human immunity mainly consists of three parts: natural immunity, which is also the basis of human immune function and is related to factors such as genetics and age. It generally changes with age; specific immunity, which refers to the immunity generated after contact with a specific antigen (such as a vaccine); and variable immunity, which mainly refers to the immune ability that can be improved through acquired adjustments. Since the human body's resistance to disease is the sum of these three types of immunity, the actual impact of acquired improvements on immunity is relatively limited. When necessary, vaccination should be carried out scientifically [1]. The main consequence of decreased immunity is that the human body is more vulnerable to viruses, bacteria, etc. The appearance of the following symptoms indicates that the immunity has been reduced [2].

1. Easy to catch cold

The most direct manifestation is that you are prone to catching colds. Getting sick and taking medicine have become commonplace, and it takes a long time to recover from each illness. Because normal people have strong immunity, they can effectively prevent the invasion of cold viruses. But when the immunity is low, the body's barrier ability is weakened and cannot resist the damage caused by foreign viruses to the body, which may cause symptoms of a cold. Therefore, if you always catch a cold, you need to actively improve your immune function.

2. Loss of appetite

When immunity is low, appetite will also decrease. Normal people have a good appetite, and various nutrients can be taken in to meet the body's nutritional needs. Therefore, the function of human organs can be improved, thereby effectively improving resistance. When immunity decreases, various problems will follow, and even loss of appetite will be obvious.

3. Get angry at the slightest thing

You have been anxious recently, and you lose your temper over trivial matters. No one dares to provoke you. You are probably just tired. A tired brain will store more negative memories, and we are more likely to be depressed when we are tired.

4. Mental depression

If you feel listless within a short period of time, it is probably related to a weakened immune system. No matter what you do, you always feel tired, even if the work does not require much physical labor. You often worry that something is wrong with your body, but when you go to the hospital for a checkup, nothing is wrong. As long as you rest for a while, everything seems to be back to normal, and this goes on and on. In severe cases, you may even feel drowsy.

5. Prone to insomnia

If you always have insomnia, it is likely related to decreased immunity. Because excessive stress is also one of the factors that lead to decreased immunity. If you are always under excessive stress, have long-term anxiety, depression, etc., your immunity will be significantly reduced, and you will be easily affected by mental factors and suffer from insomnia.

6. Frequent constipation

When constipation occurs, many people think it is related to getting angry. In fact, long-term constipation is also a manifestation of decreased immunity, which means that the human gastrointestinal tract is insufficient and the body is weak, so it is difficult to excrete feces. If this happens, you also need to be alert to decreased immunity.

7. Feeling of soreness and dryness in the eyes

If your eyes feel sore, swollen, dry, and your vision is blurred, and others also feel that your eyes are dull and your charming eyes are gone, these are the effects of fatigue.

How to improve immunity? Improving immunity is not a one-day job. More and more studies have confirmed that lifestyle has an important impact on the immune system. For example, eating habits, fitness habits, and living habits can enhance or weaken immunity.

There are many ways to improve immunity, but for people with low immunity, the most important thing is to properly supplement the various nutrients that the human body lacks. How to supplement the nutrients that the human body lacks? That depends on a balanced diet. Nowadays, many people have the bad habit of being picky eaters, which causes the body to be unable to absorb a full range of nutrients. If you want a balanced diet, you must consume a certain amount of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids every day. These nutrients play a decisive role in improving immunity [1].

For people with low immunity, staying up late is a very lethal behavior. Sufficient sleep time can promote the activity of human cells. A study published in the journal "Sleep" showed that when exposed to viruses, those who slept less than 6 hours for a week were four times more likely to catch a cold than those who slept more than 7 hours. The risk of illness was even higher for those who slept less than 5 hours. It can be seen that maintaining healthy sleep habits can not only promote human metabolism, but also help the body improve immunity, thereby forming a protective shield to resist the invasion of various viruses and bacteria.

Exercise is also an effective way to improve immunity. Exercising for 20-30 minutes a day can help the body recover faster or improve immunity compared to excessive exercise or no exercise at all. Moderate exercise can promote the consumption of body calories and fat, promote metabolism, reduce inflammation in the body, and to a certain extent, help the immune function. Relatively speaking, strenuous exercise will consume a lot of body energy and produce a lot of metabolic waste, which will interfere with the function of the immune system. This is also an important reason why athletes should pay more attention to avoiding pathogen infection.

There are many ways to improve immunity, and the most important thing is to find the one that suits you. At the same time, we should have a scientific understanding of immunity. It does not make us "immune to all poisons" and we should not expect immunity to resist all diseases. Nicole Avina, a visiting professor of health psychology at Princeton University, once said that there is no simple method to immediately amplify the immune effect. Therefore, the most effective way to prevent diseases is to have a correct understanding of diseases and to prevent them scientifically and in a timely manner.

References:

[1] Zeng Mengning. Exploring the secrets of human immunity[J]. Chinese Financier, 2021(08):122-123.

[2] Wang Yao. Low immunity? The body will show these 7 signs [J]. Everyone's Health, 2021(15):53.