The immune system is a natural mechanism that helps the body effectively resist any negative influences. How well a person can overcome stress, a cold, or climate change directly depends on it. To protect yourself from adverse factors, you need to constantly maintain and increase the body’s defenses, for example, with the help of immune booster. You will learn about how and how to increase the immunity of an adult in the article.
Causes and signs of reduced immunity
The immune system has to protect the body from parasites, fungal spores, foreign toxic substances, and other harmful effects. Organs that are formed in the mother’s womb are responsible for the immune response. However, despite this, the body’s susceptibility to adverse effects continues to improve throughout life.
Based on this, two types of the immune response are distinguished:
- congenital (natural), which is inherited from parents or formed during illness;
- acquired (artificial), in which antibodies are produced by the introduction of vaccines or ready-made antibodies.
The innate immune response has a global spectrum of action, as it can fight several unfamiliar infections at the same time. The acquired immune response is precise because it is aimed at fighting a specific foreign agent. That is why, if a child has a certain disease in childhood, in adulthood it will not be dangerous for him.
Thus, the innate immune system is given by nature, while the artificial one is formed by one’s efforts. Sometimes, even despite vaccination, the vitality of the body falls. This happens as a result:
- constant lack of sleep;
- physical and mental overwork;
- stress and depression;
- chemotherapy;
- surgical operations;
- prolonged use of antibiotics, antidepressants, and other potent drugs;
- smoking;
- alcohol and drug abuse;
- malnutrition;
- overeating;
- sedentary and antisocial lifestyle;
- pregnancy and lactation.
If you know what caused the decline in protection, it is more painless to understand how to support the immune system. To do this, the specialist conducts a diagnosis.
The main signs of a decrease in the body’s immune forces
- The dry mucous membrane of the nasopharynx is considered one of the first barriers to pathogenic microorganisms.
- Constant weakness, drowsiness, depression.
- Frequent and prolonged illnesses. Even a seasonal cold greatly exhausts the body and often flows into a chronic form.
- Dry and sensitive skin is prone to flaking and inflammation.
- Dark circles under the eyes.
- Thin and dull hair and nails.
- Profuse sweating even at rest.
Any of these symptoms can be easily eliminated. The main thing is to contact a specialist in advance, and not during an illness. This will allow for timely diagnosis, understanding the results of laboratory tests, and understanding how to help yourself and improve immunity. In addition, a person himself should be attentive to his body and take measures to strengthen the immune system. This will help you stay alert, energetic, and healthy.
How to strengthen immunity?
Strengthening immunity at home must be approached responsibly and comprehensively. First of all, you should study and change your lifestyle, correct prioritization, and improve nutrition. We must not forget about the elementary rules of hygiene and personal safety, which were taught at school. Following all these tips, you can improve the quality of life and raise the immune forces to combat the negative effects of the external environment.
Sleep compliance
The first way to improve immunity is healthy full sleep. According to scientific research, a healthy person needs at least 7-9 hours of sleep to maintain the internal reserves of the body, a child needs 10-13 hours. % is less efficient. Therefore, for a person to recover faster, it is recommended to get enough sleep.
Nighttime sleep is also closely related to the speed of the immune response. One scientific study states that if an adult is not allowed to sleep properly at night, this will slow down the production of interleukin and natural killers, which the body needs to fight pathogenic microflora. Even if you additionally take immunostimulants, the reaction will be irreversible. With prolonged lack of sleep, bacterial and viral infections are diagnosed three times more often.
To normalize the functioning of the cells of the immune system and the body’s resistance, you need:
- learn to go to bed at the same time;
- do not eat hard-to-digest food before going to bed;
- give up strong coffee, tea, smoking, and alcohol consumption at least 4 hours before bedtime;
- choose the right pillow and mattress;
- sleep in a well-ventilated room;
- practice evening walks.
Ideally, you should go to bed no later than 10 pm. The duration of sleep should be at least 7-8 hours. Only in this way, the body will have the strength and energy to effectively repel negative influences.
Regular physical activity
To strengthen the immune system, it is not necessary to run marathons, swim in the hole, and practice complex training options. However, sedentary work and a sedentary lifestyle lead to the fact that the immune system begins to age prematurely. To slow down this process, feasible physical activity, which can include light jogging, regular walks in the fresh air, morning and evening exercises, swimming in the pool, cycling, helps to slow down this process. If you devote 150-300 minutes to this during the week (this is from 20 to 40 minutes a day), keeping the rhythm and monitoring the pulse, you can prevent the early “fading” of the body’s protective functions.
Scientists have found that regular exercise helps:
- maintain the number of T-link cells;
- remove toxic metabolic products that tend to accumulate in the blood;
- restore blood circulation;
- saturate the body with oxygen;
- prevent the development of allergies, autoimmune and oncological diseases;
- reduce the frequency of exacerbations of chronic diseases;
- improve the tropism of organs and tissues;
- improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
To strengthen protective functions, it is enough for children under 17 to go in for sports 3-5 times a week for at least 60 minutes. For this, an adult will need 1-2 workouts per week lasting from 2.5 hours. Senior citizens are better off practicing low-intensity aerobic exercises, such as Nordic walking. In this way, you can slow down the rate of age-related decline in the immune system and prevent infectious and inflammatory pathologies. If you add a contrast shower or bath to regular physical exercises, you can double their effect.