# Immune System Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482 "2011-02-24T19:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/1 "2011-02-24T19:00:13Z")
What are the best ways to boost one’s immune system? Are their specific vitamins or supplements one can take that actually work? My 28 yo daughter gets sick a lot and I think it’s because she’s not taking care of herself and her immune system is suffering as a result. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/2 "2011-02-24T19:14:11Z")
Supplements and vitamins are for those people who have a deficit. You’d need a doctor doing a blood screen to figure that out. I advise against just chugging down some stuff over the counter without knowing what she needs exactly. The basics for good health: get enough sleep, get some exercise, eat healthy (veggies, fruits, fresh stuff, not a lot of prepared food, not much fat, salt, sugar). Get enough sunlight, both for Vitamin D and against seasonal depression. And the mental aspect is often forgotten: have a healthy relationship that makes you happy; find a good balance between eustress and dis-stress (that is, neither too little nor too much work; work that is challenging not boring, but manageable); enough time for hobbies outside work. If she’s depressed, that lowers the immune system for example. If she is getting no exercise, or doing too much exercise, that lowers the immune system. If she is around a lot of sick people, she might get infected no matter what. One aspect of immune system is genetics and early childhood years, and there’s nothing you can do about it at all. So if she has done the above points, and still gets sick a lot, she either has to change her enviroment (get away from sick people or from the city, get a different job), or accept that she doesn’t have an immune system like Superman. If she has specific problems - allergies for example - there are some alternative methods that work for some people. If she bruises easily, or if her immune system has suddenly changed (she only got one cold per year five years ago, but now she’s had three and the winter isn’t over) she needs to get a full checkup from a doctor. Leukemia or another cancer or organ problem could be behind a sudden change. (I most certainly don’t want to scare you. I think it’s a remote possibility, and more likely it’s her current lifestyle - but you didn’t give any details). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/3 "2011-02-24T19:15:51Z")
Boost your immune system? Easy: Exercise, eat right, get plenty of sleep, keep alcohol and other drugs to moderate levels, find (healthy) ways to avoid and/or release stress. All of these will in general contribute to overall better health. I suppose there’s also a chance – if she’s continually sniffly and runny nose/sneezing – that there’s something she’s allergic to. In which case removing that thing from her presence will help. But unless there’s a specific vitamin your daughter is deficient in (and this is highly unlikely) there’s no magic pill she can pop to get healthier. Or, what **constanze** said earlier and better. Darn ninja posters. Wasn’t there when I started replying, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/4 "2011-02-24T19:20:01Z")
Besides all the good suggestions you’ve read, she might consider going in for a checkup. She might have some underlying issue(s)–mild or serious. Of course, \*she \*has to want to go. At 28, she is no longer a minor. ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/5 "2011-02-24T19:24:13Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Supplements and vitamins are for those people who have a deficit. You’d need a doctor doing a blood screen to figure that out. I advise against just chugging down some stuff over the counter without knowing what she needs exactly. > If she’s \*\*depressed, that lowers the immune system \*\*for example. If she is getting no exercise, or doing too much exercise, Cite please, this sounds like woo-woo ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/6 "2011-02-24T19:40:48Z")
\*\*Links between immunity and conditions leading to psychotherapy. [Review] [109 refs] Picardi A. Tarolla E. Tarsitani L. Biondi M. Rivista di Psichiatria. 44(3):149-63, 2009 May-Jun. [Journal Article. Review] \*\* > [@](#): > > INTRODUCTION: People seeking for psychotherapeutic help present with a variety of conditions including stress, depression, anxiety, and maladaptive individual difference factors. This paper reviews the studies investigating the link between these conditions and immunity. > > FINDINGS: The relationship between stress-related conditions and immunity varies depending on the nature of the stressor. Acute time-limited stressors are associated with an upregulation of natural immunity, brief naturalistic stressors with a shift from cellular to humoral immunity, while long-term and chronic stressors with a decrease in most functional immune measures. Depression is associated with changes in both enumerative and functional immune measures. The most consistent association is with decreased cellular immunity. There is considerable heterogeneity in study findings that may be accounted for by clinical and demographic factors. Only limited evidence has been presented for an association between anxiety and changes in immune function. The results are somewhat inconsistent and no firm conclusions can be drawn from these studies. Relatively few studies investigated the relationship between maladaptive individual difference factors and immunity. Replicated findings include an association between alexithymia and impaired cellular immunity and altered cytokine balance with a shift towards proinflammatory mediators, and a link between Type C and Type C-related coping and HIV progression and impaired immunity. > > CONCLUSIONS: Several conditions leading people to psychotherapy are associated with changes in immune function. However, several findings are preliminary and demand replication. Also, most of the evidence is correlational and further studies allowing for causal inferences are needed. Future psychoimmunology studies should better clarify the clinical relevance of the findings. [References: 109] \*\*Decreased immune response in alexithymic women: a cross-sectional study. Guilbaud O. Curt F. Perrin C. Chaouat G. Berthoz S. Dugre-Le Bigre C. Wallier J. Strebler M. Touitou C. Jeammet P. Corcos M. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 63(4):297-304, 2009 May. \*\* > [@](#): > > It has been reported in a few studies that alexithymia is associated with impaired immune response but results are still contradictory. The present study investigates whether alexithymia is associated with lower cell-mediated (Th-1) immune response. Fifty-one healthy 18-27-year-old women were selected from healthy subjects on the basis of high or low cut-off scores on the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). They were evaluated using standardized psychiatric rating scales notably the Hospital Anxiety Depressive Scale (HAD) and the Mini Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). None of the subjects were suffering from psychiatric disorders. Twenty-seven were classified as alexithymics and 24 as non-alexithymics according to the TAS-20. Blood was drawn for lymphocyte subset counts (CD4, CD8), in vitro production of interleukin 1 (IL-1beta), IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 by phytohaemagglutinin stimulated peripheral lymphocytes, and cortisol. Women with alexithymia exhibited decreased interleukin 1beta, IL-2 and IL-4 production with reduced ratios of Th1/Th2 (IL-2/IL-10) and of CD4/CD8, as well as reduced CD4 percentages. IL-2 and IL-4 production remained significantly diminished in the alexithymic group, even after adjusting for between-group differences in anxiety and depression levels on the HAD. This study further demonstrates that alexithymic women have altered immune function, with a predominance of depressed cell-mediated immunity and a skewed Th1/Th2 ratio towards Th2 response. Alexithymia is not depression, and is defined as: 1. difficulty identifying feelings and distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal 2. difficulty describing feelings to other people 3. constricted imaginal processes, as evidenced by a scarcity of fantasies 4. a stimulus-bound, externally oriented cognitive style. ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/7 "2011-02-24T20:03:24Z")
The first study I didnt find very convincing. The second one had to do with alexithymic patients. I was questioning the relation between feeling depressed/down with lowered immunity. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/8 "2011-02-24T20:11:11Z")
Sorry, **scam** , I was trying to include different mental disorders as well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/9 "2011-02-24T20:37:07Z")
The only evidence I know of is anecdotal, but drinking plenty of fluids (e.g. water) seems to be helpful in staying healthy. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/10 "2011-02-24T20:39:03Z")
Thanks for the replies. I have suggested that she start taking a daily multi-vitamin, and see a doctor about her immune system, in the past… I was hoping for a magic pill. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/11 "2011-02-24T20:50:34Z")
What you have to realize is a vitamin is really a catalyst. It provides the “spark” for the body to make the needed reactions. Think of it like lighting an oven. You can use a match or a blow torch. Both will light the oven, but if a match is all you need then a blow torch isn’t going to help light the oven faster or better. In the Western World, vitamin deficencies are rare outside of elderly people and children under 5. My personal bias is that people who feel ill and sluggish don’t get enough sleep. Either by choice or by not sleeping well at night. If you’re snoring, waking up or other forms of sleep apnea or not sleeping well and this leads to feeling run-down and tired throughout the day. As I said, this is just what I’ve noticed. What is the 28 year old sick with? ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/12 "2011-02-24T21:41:45Z")
This notion that one can somehow “boost” the immune system is a myth. There is nothing you can do except staying away from things that harm you:smoking, ethanol etc… Vitamins are only needed in deficiency (very rare in the young population) all this “drink a lot of water” ,eat this eat that is nothing but nonsense. Or at least I have never seen anything backed up by science. Beside vaccinations there is no way to boost your immunity. Boosted immunity is by the way what people with rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis have ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/13 "2011-02-24T22:11:34Z")
I agree with **scamartistry**. I also wanted to point out that rather than “boost” one’s immune system, a better goal may be to control or constrain the immune system. What you don’t want is an immune system that is so ‘activated’ that it starts fighting off its own body. Along those lines, one thing you can do (for young kids at least) is to not overdo his/her protection from germs. All types of evidence indicates that in the _absence_ of sufficient exposure to things like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, there is a much higher likelihood of the kid developing things such as multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, and allergies in general (conditions where antibodies are made against ‘self’, i.e. autoimmune diseases). It’s as though if the immune system is not kept busy, it will get into mischief. More formally, the immune system needs to be stimulated not just to make antibodies and the cells which make them, but it also must be stimulated to make regulatory cells, i.e. cells that prevent autoimmune attack. Although not strictly an autoimmune disease, asthma is another disorder which arises when there has not been sufficient exposure to “germs” as a young kid. So, for example, kids raised on farms or those attending day care (both environments which are chock full of “germs”), have much less asthma as they get older. For those interested in this, see “[hygiene hypothesis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis)” in Wiki for a start. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/14 "2011-02-24T22:54:21Z")
Well, many dudes today don’t have a very good gut colony, so probiotics have been shown to increase your “immune system” for certain things. Honestly, a container of Activa or some equivilant each day might not be a bad idea. Probiotics are also available in pill form, etc. \*I am not a real Doctor. \* ---
**Author:** ![scamartistry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@scamartistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scamartistry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/15 "2011-02-24T23:48:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, many dudes today don’t have a very good gut colony, so probiotics have been shown to increase your “immune system” for certain things. > > Honestly, a container of Activa or some equivilant each day might not be a bad idea. Probiotics are also available in pill form, etc.\* Do you have a cite for this claim? > [@DrDeth](#): > > I am not a real Doctor. That is obvious ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/16 "2011-02-25T04:00:25Z")
Mark Crislip, an infectious disease doctor who does the podcast _Quackcast_, points out that your body’s immune system is a balancing act between reacting sufficiently to invading germs, and not being so active that it attacks your body’s own cells. Increasing your immune response would be basically provoking an inflammation response, which is unhealthy in multiple ways. Fortunately, products which claim to boost your immune system don’t really do anything. If they did, it would be unhealthy. Reference: [Boost Your Immune System and DIE!](http://www.quackcast.com/spodcasts/files/6319331ae076e5a5967d7d7282813128-21.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/17 "2011-02-25T05:08:03Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Boost your immune system? Easy: Exercise, eat right, get plenty of sleep, keep alcohol and other drugs to moderate levels, find (healthy) ways to avoid and/or release stress. All of these will in general contribute to overall better health. This is boringly logical and does not help anyone find miracle supplement shortcuts. Excellent advice though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/18 "2011-02-25T05:24:07Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > Cite please, this sounds like woo-woo People who suffer from chronic depression often have sleep disorders, eating disorders (including under- or over-eating), shallow breathing or lack of exercise or meaningful social contact . . . any of which can weaken the immune system. On the other hand, many people with OCD spend much of their time washing their hands . . . which is a good way to keep from catching anything. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/19 "2011-02-25T05:28:31Z")
> [@scamartistry](#): > > Do you have a cite for this claim? > > That is obvious Probiotics have definitely been shown to prevent colon cancer, see here for example: [http://www.ajcn.org/content/73/2/451S.long](http://www.ajcn.org/content/73/2/451S.long) ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482/20 "2011-02-25T05:56:54Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Probiotics have definitely been shown to prevent colon cancer, see here for example: > > [http://www.ajcn.org/content/73/2/451S.long](http://www.ajcn.org/content/73/2/451S.long) That study doesn’t say that probiotics have been shown to prevent or lower the risk of colon cancer. Rather, it suggests a mechanism by which probiotics could lower the risk of colon cancer. Do you know of any studies which show that this mechanism is actually clinically significant? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immune-system-question/572482.md?page=2)