# People with amazing immune systems...do you have an explanation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132 "2013-02-23T00:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/61 "2014-04-26T01:29:31Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > In the last 15 years or so, since my late teens, my incidence of colds/flu have significantly reduced. I haven’t had one in a number of years, though sometimes it feels like my body _might_ be on the verge of getting sick, then doesn’t. For example, over Easter weekend I was around my snotty niece, my sister who had a cold, and a few other sickly people. By the second day, my throat felt a teeny bit sore and I felt slightly run down. I was sure I was getting a cold. Nope. 24 hours later and I feel fine. Maybe I did get a cold and that’s all I felt? I dunno. > > In this time, I’ve also have six miscarriages (no term pregnancies). I have had the standard autoimmune panel run through my RE with no serious findings, but I’m pretty convinced there is a connection. > > I will also say that I am not overly ‘clean’. I will wash my hands only if I use the washroom, and sometimes not even that if I’m at home. Other then that, unless I’m doing the dishes or showering, I don’t wash any extra. I don’t use antibacterial anything. I will grab on to questionable door handles / transit holding on thingies usually, and not wash my hands after. I’m of the ‘exposure to germs are good for you’ school. Me too - I sometimes feel as if I’m about to “come down with something” but then I never do and I’m fine in a day or so. Also, I have a history of miscarriages too - I never had children as a result. I recall reading something years ago that linked “exceptional” immune systems to inability to carry a child to full term because the woman’s body aggressively rejected the fetus as a threat to the immune system, but that was a long time ago and I haven’t googled this in over a decade. ---
**Author:** ![huitzilopochtli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@huitzilopochtli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/huitzilopochtli)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/62 "2014-04-26T02:06:40Z")
I get sick frequently. And it usually hits me pretty hard. If I’m around someone who is sick I’ll get it. As a child I had the flu every year and ran a high temp. I had bronchitis junior year of highschool for 4 months. I was on antibiotics for 3. I would have coughing attacks so violent I would throw up and I missed pretty much every Friday during those months because I was so exhausted. I have had strep twice. First time in college. Both times right after traveling. I often get sick right after traveling. I’ve had food poisoning at least 5 times. Last time was at work at my bossed called 911. I was so dehydrated at could not stop vomiting and could not move my arms or hands. 2 coworkers got sick as well but only had mild diarrhea. My doctor in my teens was very quick to prescribe antibiotics. I was breastfed. My brother was not. He gets sick like I do. So does my mom. My dad rarely gets sick. My boyfriend has never taken antibiotics even once. He gets a cold occasionally but it’s more of a “I don’t feel so good, I’ll go to bed early tonight” kind of thing. He sleeps it off and he’s fine. He does get cold sores tho. He has the sniffles for a day or too and he’s fine. My best girlfriend is the same minus the cold sores. I need 9 hours of sleep to feel really good and rarely got it for most of my adult life. I worked strange and long hours and have trouble falling asleep. Both my boyfriend and my girlfriend don’t have this problem. I really think that proper rest makes a difference. In 20 years I never took a sick day so I don’t think I have a particularly low tolerance for discomfort. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/63 "2014-04-26T12:32:41Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m 36 and hardly ever get physically sick. > > I am not crazy enough to think that I am especially more conscientious than my sicklier brethren or endowed with a superior outlook. Because I know I’m not. I have just been very lucky. At least up to this point, because tomorrow’s another day. > > Tomorrow I may wake up with rheumatoid arthritis like my mother or fibromyalgia like my father. Or awful allergies like my sister. I frequently meet people who were pictures of health well into their 30s and 40s, and then everything falls to pieces on them. I’m kind of the same way. Yes, I rarely get sick, however I have had a kidney stone, hemorrhoids, and some problems with my stomach. So just because your healthy in one arena doesnt stop other issues from flaring up. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/64 "2014-04-26T12:34:24Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I was the product of a natural birth in 1958 and breast-fed, grew up in various roundly unhygeinic environments in communes, rural communities and several different continents. Drank (actually milked) raw goat and cow milk, and pretty much did not encounter convenience or processed foods until my teens and even then rarely ate it. I did however have every vaccination known to humankind at the time due to the frequent moving from country to country as a kid. Malaria, dengue fever, you name it, I have been vaccinated for it. > > I am 56 and have had three colds in my adult life (since age 19; I don’t recall prior to that) and the flu- real, nasty, real flu - once. The only days I’ve taken off of work or school for illness have been for bad back flare-ups, and that’s been maybe…I don’t know, three or four or five days in my life? Plus a few days two years ago for that ghastly flu which really kicked my butt. > > I have never had a flu shot, I’ve taken antibiotics maybe three or four time in my adult life (all for dental issues - I do have bad teeth that have required a lot of work) and I do not use antibiotic or antibacterial creams or potions on cuts or abrasions or anything like that. Not because I think there’s anything wrong with such medications or salves, but because I’ve never felt I needed to. My body seems to fix itself without help. I got a new doctor in October 2013 and he insisted on every blood test and cardiac test and pee test and whatever and apparently I am alarmingly healthy. > > So I think I qualify as someone having an “amazing” immune system but pretty much my family and my siblings are all like me. We do not get sick, we do not get infections, we do not have chronic health issues. So personally I think it’s just very lucky genetics, coupled with robust exposure to birth and bodily fluids building a strong internal biodiversity from birth, coupled with a diverse and dirty upbringing, and perhaps having lots of vaccinations helped too. On the vaccinations. One thing is back in the 1950’s they didn’t immunize for as many things as they do now. There has been some discussion in that maybe our bodies need to learn to fight diseases on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/65 "2014-04-26T12:52:07Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > On the vaccinations. One thing is back in the 1950’s they didn’t immunize for as many things as they do now. There has been some discussion in that maybe our bodies need to learn to fight diseases on their own. Uh, that’s [how vaccinations work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccination#Types). ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/66 "2014-04-26T14:35:14Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Me too - I sometimes feel as if I’m about to “come down with something” but then I never do and I’m fine in a day or so. > > Also, I have a history of miscarriages too - I never had children as a result. I recall reading something years ago that linked “exceptional” immune systems to inability to carry a child to full term because the woman’s body aggressively rejected the fetus as a threat to the immune system, but that was a long time ago and I haven’t googled this in over a decade. Yes, you’re correct. There is emerging research that is showing that many of the ‘unexplained’ infertility situations, and women with multiple miscarriage, may have immune system issues. As you said, it’s usually the body attacking the embryo/fetus. There are some fertility clinics, especially in the U.S., that test for and treat these types of issues (usually with steroids/heparin) with demonstrated success. Unfortunately, many, many RE’s, including my own and most others in Canada, haven’t kept up with the emerging research and are still reluctant to treat for immune issues. Plus, the tests are quite expensive and not readily available (i.e. the HLA Genotype Panel is around $1,500 and not available in Canada). My informal polls and anecdotal information collection among other IF’ers, especially those with multiple miscarriages, have shown that a surprising number of them also ‘never get sick’. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/67 "2014-04-27T01:33:29Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Yes, you’re correct. There is emerging research that is showing that many of the ‘unexplained’ infertility situations, and women with multiple miscarriage, may have immune system issues. As you said, it’s usually the body attacking the embryo/fetus. There are some fertility clinics, especially in the U.S., that test for and treat these types of issues (usually with steroids/heparin) with demonstrated success. Unfortunately, many, many RE’s, including my own and most others in Canada, haven’t kept up with the emerging research and are still reluctant to treat for immune issues. Plus, the tests are quite expensive and not readily available (i.e. the HLA Genotype Panel is around $1,500 and not available in Canada). > > My informal polls and anecdotal information collection among other IF’ers, especially those with multiple miscarriages, have shown that a surprising number of them also ‘never get sick’. Huh, interesting. I’m beyond childbearing age now but thank you for re-spiking my curiosity on this and giving me some search terms to go by. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/68 "2014-04-27T01:52:45Z")
I’m a fan of the theory that a little exposure to germs helps build an immunity to combat illness. I’ll get a cold here and there but nothing to bring me down. Never had a flu shot, Hubby had them when he was in the navy and he would come down with a mild flu, I’d get the sniffles. Hubby is a big fan of antiseptic handwash stuff, he tend to catch about every other cold that comes down the pike. I’m not really doctor phobic but I don’t like to go unless it’s something I can’t fix. Don’t like antibiotics or pain killers, save a little ibuprophen or a Goody as needed. Waiting to see what middle age will bring…Last year I had hayfever for the first time ever, this year it’s not as bad. I’ve also recently developed an allergy to lavender and rosemary plants. (And I work in a garden center!) My family also shares what seems to be family health problems… migraines, back problems, depression, ‘female’ problems. I did not inherit these fun things…I also did not have children but the link it not to infertility as three other family members couldn’t/didn’t have children and inherited the health problems. I think a good immune system is part genetic, part healthy diet and part common sense. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/69 "2014-04-27T03:55:44Z")
[Hygiene hypothesis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis) is a real thing. And it is not new. I remember reading a WHO report in the mid or late 1970s, in high school, that linked over-sanitized upbringing with allergies, auto-immune disorders and weak immune systems leading to frequent illnesses. Reports about the dangers of over-sanitizing and indiscriminate use of antibiotics, as well as potentially harmful overuse of “antibacterial” soaps and wipes and other nonsense have been around for decades. I don’t understand why so many people buy into the whole antibacterial wipes/soaps/sanitizer thing when there is not a shred of evidence that widespread use of such products is anything but detrimental to individual and social health? OK, I do get it - advertising and emotion is more persuasive than actual science. I’m pro-vaccination, pro being sensibly clean and washing up routinely, pro doing generally recommended medical tests and so on. But the germophobia in the US and some other countries is illogical, bordering on insane and so clearly counter-productive I don’t quite understand it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/70 "2014-04-27T13:17:16Z")
My dad rarely gets sick, and I’m pretty sure it’s the hygiene hypothesis. He grew up in and around dirt all the time. If it were genetic, I don’t think it would have stopped with him in the family line. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/71 "2014-04-27T14:31:00Z")
In gardening, people who say “Bugs? Not on _my_ plants” often wind up being bitten the hardest. I suspect the same is eventually true for most people who think they’re magically protected by “amazing immune systems”. If you can show through objective lab measurements that your immune system parameters are elevated significantly beyond those of the average person (which is not necessarily a good thing from the perspective of potential autoimmune problems, or “cytokine storm” overwhelming your system during an infection), then I’ll accept that you have an unusually powerful immune system. Otherwise, you’ve just been lucky so far. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/72 "2014-04-27T17:38:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > If you can show through objective lab measurements that your immune system parameters are elevated significantly beyond those of the average person (which is not necessarily a good thing from the perspective of potential autoimmune problems, or “cytokine storm” overwhelming your system during an infection), then I’ll accept that you have an unusually powerful immune system. I was halfway through composing a post about how the immune system actually works, when I saw this paragraph and realized it perfectly and coherently summarizes what I was verbosely and ineffectively trying to say. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/73 "2014-04-27T18:09:35Z")
Though bigger (elevated) response is not necessarily better or more effective. There are differences in how susceptible people are to infections and of course past exposures result in less susceptibility and less severe illness when it occurs. There is already decent evidence for some gastrointenstinal infections that the nature of your microbiome correlates with resistance to various pathogens. We know that we harbor a host of virus all the time and that there are individual variations between those who become ill with those viruses and those who do not. We do not yet, to the best of my knowledge, have the ability to figure out what causes those diffrences. Again, that telomere study is interesting. The actual article demonstrated that the telomeres that mattered were in particular populations. Small n, suggestive only, and whatever actually seems to provide for greater resistance to a defined experimental exposure may be what also causes the telomeres shortening in that population rather than something related directly to the telomeres. But there are people less likely to get ill from the same exposure as others and short of research that defines what the factors are collecting some anecdotes may at least allow for some hypothesis generation. Anecdotally we certainly see that younger siblings get more illnesses as toddlers and preschoolers and fewer during the school years. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/74 "2014-04-27T18:21:17Z")
One protective factor:[social ties](http://http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=417085). > [@](#): > > … those with more types of social ties were less susceptible to common colds, produced less mucus, were more effective in ciliary clearance of their nasal passages, and shed less virus. These relationships were unaltered by statistical controls for prechallenge virus-specific antibody, virus type, age, sex, season, body mass index, education, and race. Susceptibility to colds decreased in a dose-response manner with increased diversity of the social network. There was an adjusted relative risk of 4.2 comparing persons with fewest (1 to 3) to those with most (6 or more) types of social ties. Although smoking, poor sleep quality, alcohol abstinence, low dietary intake of vitamin C, elevated catecholamine levels, and being introverted were all associated with greater susceptibility to colds, they could only partially account for the relation between social network diversity and incidence of colds. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/75 "2014-04-27T21:48:00Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I was halfway through composing a post about how the immune system actually works, when I saw this paragraph and realized it perfectly and coherently summarizes what I was verbosely and ineffectively trying to say. 🙂 I’d like to see that post. 🙂 I don’t have objective lab measurements and all I can provide is an anecdotal data point which one can choose to believe, or not: In the last (at least) 36 years, I have had precisely three colds. Since I get sick so rarely, each cold is burned in my memory because they made me miserable, since I’m probably a wuss when it comes to getting sick since it’s such a rare occurrence. I can’t believe most people go through that once a year or more, but almost everyone I know does. But I do not. I have no kids, but I’ve spent over a decade volunteering in hospitals (in the ER) and nursing homes. I have a wide circle of friends and am exposed to many and various environments in my normal work-week. I’ve never used an antibacterial wipe in my life. My three siblings (living in England, Hungary and Spain and all have children) have a similar history to mine, as does our mother, who is in her mid-80s and still hikes and does yoga. And smokes, by the way. So is it really mere luck? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/76 "2014-04-27T23:11:21Z")
I work in the children’s department of a public library, and as you can imagine, the staff gets laid low with colds every year thanks to all the little germ spewers coming in. I used to get colds very rarely. For years I worked as a respiratory therapist, and I assumed the the barrage of bugs I was exposed to on the job kept my immune system beefed up. Then when I quit medicine and started at the library, I began to get one or two colds every year, usually shortly after the kids all went back to school and started trading germs and viruses. I really, really hate having colds, so last fall I tried something new. I resolved to **not touch my face** at work unless I had just washed my hands with disinfecting soap. My reasoning is that while, yes, colds can be transmitted by airborne droplets, most people at work were probably being infected by transfer from keyboards, telephones, etc. to the mucosal membranes of the eyes and nose (and less likely, but still possible, the mouth). Since it is not practical to rid surfaces of cold viruses in a busy public venue like a library, I decided it was more practical to protect my face from exposure. It was not too difficult to develop the habit of not touching my face; thanks to years of work in medicine I am quite attuned to environmental microbes and the idea of a sterile field. I treated my face as a sterile field and made it imperative to never rub my eyes or pick my nose or even scratch my cheek while I was at work. If I had an irresistible itch or something that needed to be picked at, I would wash my hands thoroughly first. The results? I did not catch a cold all last winter. I’ll continue the **no touch face** policy at least until school is out, but now that it’s an ingrained habit I think I’ll simply stick with it forever and ever. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132/77 "2014-04-28T00:00:54Z")
I never get sick. The last sick day I took was in 1998. I grew up overseas including a couple of third world countries and I caught some really nasty diseases as a kid. It seems to have really boosted my immune response. I’ve never had a flu shot, I don’t use anti-bacterial products unless something really yucky needs cleaning and I’m not particularly good at washing my hands, but it just doesn’t seem to matter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-amazing-immune-systems-do-you-have-an-explanation/651132.md?page=3)