What Can Weaken Your Immune System?

The immune system comprises millions of cells that travel along with the bloodstream. Good immune health is crucial for our survival and well-being. They produce antibodies to protect us from toxins, pathogens, cancerous cells and infectious agents. However, current lifestyle habits, exposure to toxins and several everyday factors take a huge toll on our immune system. Let us find out what can weaken your immune system and discuss the causes of weak immune systems.

What Causes A Low Immune System?

What can weaken your immune system? Well, it could be your body’s nature, lifestyle, existing medical conditions or the medications you take to tackle them.

Primary Immune Deficiency:

Our body follows two types of immune mechanisms: Innate immunity and Acquired immunity. Innate immunity is the natural form of immune response our body generates to defend against harmful foreign bodies. Some people are born with low immune function, and a weak immune system at birth is termed primary immune deficiency.

Old Age:

This is inevitable. Our body functions naturally decline as we age, and the immune system is no different. This is one of the causes of weak immune system due to nutrient deficiencies that are pretty common in aged people.

Medical Conditions:

The presence of medical conditions like AIDS, diabetes, tuberculosis infection, cancer, etc., are some of the causes of weak immune system. Weak immune system due to medical conditions is known as acquired immune deficiency disorder. These medical conditions attack the immune cells and disable them from protecting the body against infections and foreign agents.

Do Medications Cause Weak Immune System?

Yes, certain medications can weaken our immune system. Lets see some common examples.

Steroids:

Corticosteroids (or steroids) are medications indicated during allergies, asthma, lupus and inflammatory conditions. Though it has anti-inflammatory properties, this medicine is one of the causes of weak immune system that increases your risk of getting fungal infections.

TNF inhibitors:

These are the class of medications indicated to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. The immune system attacks its cells in these medical conditions, assuming it as a foreign agent. TNF inhibitors suppress the immune system to protect the body from further attack. 

How Can Lifestyle Weaken Your Immune System?

Lack Of Physical Activity: 

Exercise enables blood circulation that facilitates your immune health to fight infections. Many people have a sedentary lifestyle where there is little to no requirement for body movement. In addition to causing obesity and other health issues, a sedentary lifestyle also significantly impacts the immune system.

Lack Of Quality Sleep:

A night of good sleep is similar to a battery recharge for your gadget. It rejuvenates your body and relieves stress. Lack of proper sleep triggers the progression of diseases and causes depression. Particularly this COVID-19 pandemic altered the daily routine and affected the people's sleep quality. Inadequate or absence of sleep triggers your body to release substances that mediate inflammation. This ultimately affects the immune system negatively.

Stress And Your Immune System:

Our white blood cells have two components named phagocytes and lymphocytes to provide an immune response. Stress induces the release of the hormone cortisol that hinders the immune system’s ability to fight against infections. Cortisol hormone lowers the number of lymphocytes and suppresses the effectiveness of the immune system, which increases the possibility of infections. Stress and other mental health problems are also indirect causes of weak immune system if you use alcohol, smoking and other habits to cope with them.

Imbalanced Diet - A Sure Shot Recipe For Weakening Your Immune System:

Proper nutritional supply through diet is necessary for the perfect functioning of all the cells of our body, including our immune system. When our diet is enriched with nutrients, our body will have the energy to generate a timely response to fight against toxins and infectious agents.

Processed foods and ready-to-eat meals are pretty convenient. Still, they lack essential nutrients and vitamins to support your immune system. Regular consumption of processed foods instead of fruits and vegetables can cause inflammation in the gut and suppress your immune system. Diets rich in refined sugar and high fats disturb the natural balance of microbes in your intestine that further aggravates inflammation.

Vitamin D Deficiency:

You can get an adequate supply of vitamin D through eggs, fish, milk or sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency could result from lack of sun exposure, medical conditions or dietary deficiency. In addition to supporting your bones and general health, vitamin D is essential for a healthy immune system. 

Boosting Your Immune System Will Boost Your Health:

A healthy immune system is an index of a problem-free body. While some factors like old age, environmental exposure and naturally weak immune system cannot be changed, you can still provide optimum support to your immune system by keeping an eye on your lifestyle. Ensure that you take food balanced with all the nutrients at proper intervals