Don't get caught out with sickness, boost your immunity with these tips
As we age our immune systems become less effective. Just like some people get grey hair and others don’t, some people’s immune systems deteriorate more rapidly than others.
Research has show our immune system loses its ‘memory’ and forgets it has encountered certain bugs before and it’s called immunosenescence,
The immune system is a complex network of organs that include the spleen, bone marrow, tonsils, adenoids - the tissue found at the back of your throat - and the lymphatic system.
In order to support your immune system in its battle against infection, there are plenty of dietary and lifestyle changes you can make to help your body fight back.
Below we reveal the latest thinking on the immune system — and how you can stop it ageing…
Work on your relationship
A bad or unhappy relationship can make you ill and damage your immune system.
Researchers at Ohio Sate University tested the health effects of 'attachment anxiety' on 85 couples who had been married for an average of more than 12 years. They also found that people stressed about their relationship produced 11 per cent more of the stress hormone cortisol. They also had fewer T-cells, an important part of the immune system's defence against infection.
Laugh more
Laughter can work wonders for the body too. Researchers at Indiana State University in the US uncovered the most conclusive evidence yet of a link between laughter and the ability to fight disease. In a major new study, they found roaring with laughter can boost the immune system by up to 40 per cent. They now believe health professionals should look more seriously at humour as a complementary therapy.
In America, humour workshops are already marketed for self-healing and reducing stress. Complementary health experts say Britain lags behind and believe the new research shows the need for such services.
Edzard Ernst, Britain's only Professor of complementary medicine, said: "There is increasing evidence that laughter does more than just improve the mood. It is already being used as a therapy in some ways, for example, on some paediatric wards, where they bring people in to cheer up the kids.
"There is scope to expand this. Generally speaking, we laugh too little."
Learn to relax
Relaxation is not only pleasurable, but it also boosts your immune system affecting your overall health. Recent studies from the University of Reading show that stressful thoughts can actually lower levels of immune antibodies - a protein that attaches itself to foreign bodies and destroys them. In contrast, patients who recalled happy, non-stressful thoughts showed higher levels of immune antibodies. â¨
Take up Meditation
Meditation can improve the immune system and aid positive thinking, scientists believe.
A study and research that appeared in the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, found that volunteers who meditated for a short time every week showed lower anxiety levels than those who did not.
They also had higher levels of antibodies in their blood, suggesting they would be more able to fight off infection.
Avoid stress
When you are stressed and run down, you are twice as likely to develop symptoms when exposed to a common cold virus. This is thought to be a result of high levels of stress hormones and depleted adrenal glands that interfere with immune function.
Other researchers have highlighted the impact of chronic stress on the immune system, suggesting it may cause it to age prematurely.
Each cell contains pieces of coiled DNA called chromosomes.
And on the ends of these are protective caps called telomeres — rather like the plastic on the end of shoelaces.
These get shorter each time cells divide.
Once they reach a certain length they can’t shorten any more, so the cell dies.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, have shown that women who care for chronically ill children or parents; people with post-traumatic stress disorder; and those abused as children all have shorter immune-cell telomeres.
This ages their immune system.
Don’t sleep too much or too little
Professor Lord led a study of 150 volunteers aged 65 to 92 who wore devices to record how long they slept at night.
Blood tests showed two types of immune cell functioned better in those sleeping an average seven to eight hours, compared with those who slept six hours or less or 8½ hours or more.
‘Their neutrophils don’t kill bacteria as well, and the natural killer cells show a reduced ability to kill cancer cells.’
Professor Lord plans to track her subjects’ immune systems after they have being given the flu vaccine this winter.
Previous work by her team suggests that lack of sleep raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which may suppress the immune system.
It is not known why sleeping for more than eight hours affects immune functioning.
You might also want to avoid that night cap.
Too much alcohol can interfere with the ability of immune cells to replicate, studies suggest.
We found the short sleepers seem to be the most affected,’ says Professor Lord.
It can also inhibit the ability of natural killer cells to take on cancer cells.
Give up smoking:
Medical research reveals that smoking can increase the risk of heart and lung disease and also osteoporosis - a disease that weakens bones. More recent studies show that smoking can bring forward the menopause. This is because cigarette chemicals can reduce oestrogen levels in our bodies - the sex hormone needed for ovulation. â¨Smoking can also increase the risk of infection. Smokers who develop a cold are more likely to suffer from recurrent sore throats which can lead to bronchitis - inflammation of the mucous membrane in the lungs
Avoid cigarette smoke
Respiratory illnesses are more common in smokers and those exposed to passive smoking. Avoid smoky atmospheres which damage the nasal lining so cold viruses are more likely to take hold.
Take regular exercise
Regular exercise can boost your immunity. The exact mechanism is unknown, but it is probably linked with burning off the effects of stress. Exercise should therefore be non-competitive. Those who over- train or run marathons are more at risk of viral illnesses due to the physical stress they are under.
Ditch the crash diets
Although there is no magic pill, scientists have a few suggestions, such as moderate exercise, which boosts the body’s ability to fight off bacterial infections.
A study of adults aged 20 to 70 found exercise was linked with a 29 per cent reduction in upper respiratory tract infections, for example.
Maintaining good energy levels helps boost immune responses, so those who are underweight or go on crash diets could find themselves at greater risk of infections.
Stay warm
Feeling chilly constricts nasal blood flow, and local immunity, to triple your chance of developing symptoms when exposed to a cold virus.
Probiotics
Most of your immune defences are housed in the wall of your small intestines. Beneficial lactic-acid producing probiotic bacteria stimulate immunity here. They secrete natural antibiotics and stimulate production of interferon, a natural anti-viral agent which helps to protect against viral infections.
Avoid excess alcohol
In small amounts, alcohol may protect against the common cold, but when you drink more than recommended amounts, your immune function is impaired.
Wrap up warm
The old wives’ tale about catching a cold if you get wet and shivery appears to have some basis in fact. When you feel cold, blood is directed away from your peripheries, including your nose, so respiratory infections meet less resistance to their attack.
Brush your skin:
Brushing your skin every day not only boosts the circulation and leaves skin glowing, it's also said to aid lymphatic drainage - the body's method of flushing out toxins and dispersing excess fluid. It can also help shift cellulite, by encouraging lymphatic flow in your thighs and buttocks, where fats, proteins and waste materials often collect.
Diet always comes first
“Even a minor lack of some nutrients can lower your immunity and lead to increased risk of disease,” says Rachell Hipkiss, Director of Science & Nutrition at Healthspan. Depleted iron stores, for example can increase risk of recurrent Candida (thrush) and Herpes simplex (cold sore) viruses. Viral infections are also more likely in those lacking selenium or vitamin C, both of which help to suppress the activation of viral genes.
Eating your 5-a-day fruit and vegetables helps to maximise your intake of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. While as many as possible should be eaten raw or lightly steamed, to preserve their nutrient content, winter warmers such as vegetable soups and stews are great for boosting immunity, too.
The essential fatty acids found in oily fish are also important for immune function. They regulate the way immune cells react to chemical signals, known as ‘cytokines’, so aim to eat at least two or three portions of oily fish per week (or take fish oil supplements).
Immunodeficiency expert Professor Richard Aspinall, of Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, says: ‘To function properly, the immune system needs a lot of energy.
‘For good immune responses it is important to get plenty of energy from your diet, a good range of vitamins, and trace elements like selenium and zinc.’
These boost the effectiveness of certain immune cells, particularly natural killer cells.
Beef, sardines, probiotic yoghurt, olive oil, pine nuts, mangoes and pomegranates have high levels of nutrients that aid immune responses, according to the charity Age UK.
Think about vaccinations as you age
Our immune system protects us from viruses, bacteria and parasites, and consists of many different types of cells that carry out specific jobs — rather like different types of soldiers in an army.
However, an ageing immune system has fewer new recruits to combat unknown invaders, and more battle-weary troops only capable of fighting specific types of enemies they’ve already come across.
Dr Donald Palmer, an immunologist who lectures at Imperial College, London, says: ‘It’s a double whammy.
By the time you reach 65, you don’t have the wide range of cells needed to fight new infections, and those you do have are exhausted.’
A group of immune cells called ‘naive T-cells’ patrols the body and raises the alarm when they find infections.
However, fewer of these are generated as we age, because the thymus — a small gland behind the breastbone where they are matured — shrinks from puberty.
Furthermore, our immune system holds a ‘store’ of weapons tailored to the bugs it’s met previously but its ‘memory’ becomes less efficient.
In the same way we may struggle to remember names as we age, the immune system struggles to remember if it has encountered a bacteria or virus before.
Professor Arne Akbar, immunologist at University College, London, says the memory cells — known as ‘memory T-cells’ — are the Dads’ Army of the immune system: ‘They can protect you but not as well as younger soldiers.’
Other immune cells become less effective, too. For instance, neutrophils, which arrive rapidly at the site of injuries and ingest invaders, tire with age.
Experiments by Professor Janet Lord of Birmingham University show that neutrophils from elderly people are around half as effective at killing bacteria compared with those of younger adults.
One important consequence of our immune system becoming frayed around the edges is that vaccines, which stimulate the immune defences, become less effective.
A study by Austrian scientists found that effectiveness of tetanus jabs, for example, declines from the age of 40. At 60, 16 per cent of those vaccinated within the previous five years were no longer fully protected.
And flu vaccines are only 30 to 40 per cent effective in those aged 65 and over.
Last year, the Government scrapped its programme of pneumonia vaccinations for the over-65s after experts said the protection they offered were poor and did not last long in older people.
A potential new approach is to inject the vaccine into the skin instead of into the tissue below, as this appears to create a better response in the immune system.
Keep clean
Wash your hands regularly to help prevent spread of the virus. The cold virus is mainly spread by touch, being carried on the hands and entering the body through the mouth, nose or eyes.
Get some sunlight
As much sunlight as you can for as late into the year as you can manage. Even getting sunlight on just your face helps produce more vitamin D in your body. If you can’t get Vitamin D check out Healthspan’s Vitamin D3 supplement
Last, but definitely not least - pelargonium!
This is my favourite winter supplement. From personal experience it is a highly effective treatment for the relief of symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, including the common cold, sore throat, cough and blocked or runny nose. Symptoms resolve quickly, usually within 24 hours, and you should continue to take it for three days to prevent symptoms returning.
Supplements
Dr Sarah Brewer, GP and Nutritionist says, “Many supplements are used to help reduce winter infections. Some help the body to cope with an underlying problem such as stress.”Popular immune boosters include:
Multivitamin and minerals: Research involving 96 older people showed that those taking multivitamins for one year had better immune function, mounted a better response to influenza vaccination, and had half as many days ill with infections compared with those not taking multivitamin supplements (23 days in the year versus 48).
Echinacea: Used to relieve the symptoms of the common cold and influenza type infections.
Garlic powder tablets: Have a natural antiseptic, antibacterial and antiviral action.
Rhodiola: Used to reduce the symptoms of stress such as fatigue, exhaustion and mild anxiety.
Korean Ginseng: Used to increase resistance to stress and infections.
Passion flower: Used to relieve symptoms associated with stress.
Tagged in Health