As a clinical immunologist, I see patients with a vast range of problems. At one extreme are patients with immunodeficiencies, who have immune systems that fail to respond appropriately to infections. At the other end of the spectrum are patients with autoimmune diseases, who have immune systems that are overactive and produce unregulated inflammation, causing diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel disease and multiple sclerosis, to name a few. Most commonly, however, I see patients for whom the immune system is just not functioning properly, resulting in unexplained symptoms such as chronic fatigue, pain or brain fog. This latter category is particularly challenging, as the underlying cause of the immune system dysfunction is often so poorly understood and not clearly linked to well-defined immunologic diseases. At the end of the day, regardless of what treatment they may or may not be candidates for, patients want to know what they can do to help take better care of their immune system through their behavior (i.e. diet, exercise and mental health). Over the years, my approach to this has evolved, and I would like to share with you, over several installations, the essentials of how to train and maintain a healthy immune system.
When a patient asks me what he or she can do to better care for their immune system, I generally start by giving them a 30,000-foot view of what the immune system is designed to do. While virtually everyone is familiar with the old-school thinking that portrays the immune system as an army that battles invaders such as infections, which it generally does quite well, current thinking is that the immune system is so much more, with functions integrated into virtually every physiologic system in some way or another. Here are few things to think about:
Inflammation and Repair: Taking the Garbage Out
We all know that inflammation can manifest itself as a warm, tender red area that can develop after a splinter or similar injury. As it turns out, however, inflammation is not only vital to defending ourselves from infections, it is also critical in housekeeping functions throughout our body, cleaning up billions of dying cells and disposing of damaged proteins and other cellular debris on a daily basis. Immune functioning with controlled inflammation is also vital for effective tissue repair that occurs when we exercise vigorously. Without a well-functioning immune system, we would perish in a short moment.
[See: 9 Ways to Boost Your Immune System.]
When Inflammation Goes Bad
While housekeeping inflammatory responses are vital to maintain and repair our tissues and acute inflammation is critical to defend from infections, chronic inflammation is well known to contribute to a remarkable array of diseases. These range from skin diseases such as psoriasis to inflammatory bowel disease, numerous forms of arthritis, advanced heart and vascular disease, and other chronic inflammatory conditions. More recently, low-grade inflammation has been shown to contribute to certain forms of dementia and sensitivity to certain foods, such as gluten, as seen in celiac disease as well as in certain patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Finally, note that the immune system ages just as every other organ system and, when it does, it is no longer able to adequately control inflammation, thereby contributing to the development and progression of the aforementioned chronic inflammatory diseases. In light of this, we are increasingly interested in finding ways to slow this process down. In other words, a healthy immune system must keep the lid on chronic inflammation in order to achieve optimal heath and disease prevention.
[See: 8 Weird Ways Obesity Makes You Sick.]
The Immune System as a Network
Most critical to understanding the concept of immunologic health is appreciating that the immune system is tied in to nearly every other organ and biologic system. The brain-immune network is incredibly important, and when it’s not functioning properly, the result can be abnormalities of mood and increased pain and fatigue. In fact, there are now clinical trials of biologic therapeutics (such as those used to treat diseases like rheumatoid arthritis) to determine if they’ll be effective in treating resistant depression. The gastrointestinal immune network is also becoming better understood. It has been found that our microbiome (all the microorganisms that live on us and in us) is absolutely vital to the development and maintenance of a healthy immune system. As your gut and brain are tied together, they’re melded by cells and mediators of the immune system.
[See: Old-School Cold Remedies That Really Work.]
Immune System in Health and Disease
When we have a healthy immune system, our defenses are indeed intact, and we use our inflammatory response wisely and keep it under tight control. When it under-performs, we can be vulnerable to infections and our surveillance systems for cancer are compromised. When our immune system becomes hyperactive, we experience the entire gamut of acute to chronic inflammatory diseases. The goal of immunologic training is to keep the meter in neutral, but maintain the ability to rapidly respond to danger.
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Redefining Wellness by Achieving Immunologic Health originally appeared on usnews.com
