# When I don't get sick, how precisely do I not do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477 "2009-08-24T07:31:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![StaudtCJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@StaudtCJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaudtCJ)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/21 "2009-08-25T01:06:32Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > Anybody have info on this? > > As far as I understand the whole pregnancy deal the baby and the host’s systems stay pretty isolated by the placenta. So I’d guess that the baby grows up with some set of basic anti-bodies that are genetically coded, or something like that, without inheriting ones that the mother has accumulated during her life. [This Link](http://www.gentlebirth.org/vre/newimmun.html) seems to indicate that the unborn receives SOME antibodies through the placenta, and then the major dose is through breastfeeding. After some minor googling, other sites seem to agree. I’ve not yet found one that disputes the concept. So a few antibodies are placenta/pregnancy transferred, and most come from feeding human babies the old-fashioned (and apparently more effective in many respects) way. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/22 "2009-08-25T01:07:53Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > Anybody have info on this? > > As far as I understand the whole pregnancy deal the baby and the host’s systems stay pretty isolated by the placenta. So I’d guess that the baby grows up with some set of basic anti-bodies that are genetically coded, or something like that, without inheriting ones that the mother has accumulated during her life. It’s been answered already, but [Colostrum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostrum)has antibodies in it (Mainly IgG and IgA). Also, IgG is an antibody that is able to cross the placenta and is able to give the fetus the [first passive immunity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_immunity#Naturally_acquired_passive_immunity). ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/23 "2009-08-25T01:12:20Z")
Also, to answer the OP’s question, though it’s pretty much been explained by several anecdotes and explanations already, the “formal” reasoning/logic of once you’ve been exposed to something, it’s easier to fight off the second time is basically due to the fact that after an exposure your body will create Memory Cells. [Memory T Cells](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_T_cell) [Memory B Cells](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_B_cell) These guys are basically for the SAME infection to occur again, and if they detect it, they kick into hyperdrive and can often fight off the infection before even many of the symptoms ever appear, so you don’t even notice that you’ve gotten sick usually. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/24 "2009-08-25T01:14:53Z")
> [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](#): > > If the baby is breastfed, colostra provide antibodies and immune system growth. > [@StaudtCJ](#): > > [This Link](http://www.gentlebirth.org/vre/newimmun.html) seems to indicate that the unborn receives SOME antibodies through the placenta, and then the major dose is through breastfeeding. After some minor googling, other sites seem to agree. I’ve not yet found one that disputes the concept. So a few antibodies are placenta/pregnancy transferred, and most come from feeding human babies the old-fashioned (and apparently more effective in many respects) way. > [@Ro0sh](#): > > It’s been answered already, but [Colostrum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostrum)has antibodies in it (Mainly IgG and IgA). > > Also, IgG is an antibody that is able to cross the placenta and is able to give the fetus the [first passive immunity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_immunity#Naturally_acquired_passive_immunity). Thank you all. Interesting stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/25 "2009-08-25T02:06:25Z")
> [@Ro0sh](#): > > So there is some truth to exercising and feeling “healthier” in general. Are you claiming that there is a measured immunological benefit due to the increased lymph transport rates of (1) a person who actively exercises (gym, sports, running) over (2) a person who goes about a normal day (walking around at home or work, doing the dishes, etc.)? I could believe there is, but I’d be interested in seeing a cite for this, as it seems like it’d be hard to demonstrate given the many other effects of exercise. I could also imagine that a nominal level of muscular activity is sufficient for efficient immune response and that that threshold may be crossed without active exercise. (In other words, I’d like to learn more about this detail.) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/26 "2009-08-25T02:13:57Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > viruses are always mutating so people have probably much greater changes of getting new ones, every year there is some variation. > [@Canadjun](#): > > **Some** viruses mutate a lot. Smallpox is caused by a virus, and barring super-duper-top-secret stuff in biowarfare labs, I don’t think it mutated significantly. Hence our ability to wipe it out (again, barring biowarfare and the like). good that one doesn’t mutate a lot. though the cold and flu do and that is why they are seasonal. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/27 "2009-08-25T19:13:48Z")
> [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](#): > > Hmm. Maybe. But then again, if there were constantly bugs around capable of sickening those who aren’t immune, wouldn’t babies be sick pretty much nonstop for the first two or three years of life? Don’t know about the first few years, but for about the first five months after my kid started daycare it sure felt like he was sick nonstop. Nasty little germ factories, that’s what kids are. And he brought it all home to share, too. Fun times. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/28 "2009-08-25T21:24:00Z")
> [@Ro0sh](#): > > Also, to answer the OP’s question, though it’s pretty much been explained by several anecdotes and explanations already, the “formal” reasoning/logic of once you’ve been exposed to something, it’s easier to fight off the second time is basically due to the fact that after an exposure your body will create Memory Cells. > [Memory T Cells](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_T_cell) > [Memory B Cells](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_B_cell) > These guys are basically for the SAME infection to occur again, and if they detect it, they kick into hyperdrive and can often fight off the infection before even many of the symptoms ever appear, so you don’t even notice that you’ve gotten sick usually. Thanks, I think this is more or less what I was looking for. It’s possible that I spend more time than most people (especially when I know I’ve been exposed) obsessively evaluating how my throat feels. :rolleyes: Maybe everybody “throws colds off,” I just notice it more because I’m such an incredible whiner. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/29 "2009-08-25T21:26:18Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > good that one doesn’t mutate a lot. > > though the cold and flu do and that is why they are seasonal. :dubious: How does that follow? ---
**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:** [August 26, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/30 "2009-08-26T09:39:55Z")
> [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](#): > > :dubious: How does that follow? The fact that they mutate so often is why your immunity you built up from last year doesn’t do you any good this year. At least, I think that’s what it means… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/31 "2009-08-26T09:51:23Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The fact that they mutate so often is why your immunity you built up from last year doesn’t do you any good this year. At least, I think that’s what it means… As I understand it, it’s true that the reason why you don’t retain immunity to the flu from last year is that it changes quickly. With colds however it’s not that the virus changes; it’s that there are many varieties of them and your immunity only applies to one. A “cold” isn’t so much a disease as a large collection of similar diseases. Which is also why they can make a flu vaccine but not a cold one. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477/32 "2009-08-27T00:19:22Z")
> [@Pasta](#): > > Are you claiming that there is a measured immunological benefit due to the increased lymph transport rates of (1) a person who actively exercises (gym, sports, running) over (2) a person who goes about a normal day (walking around at home or work, doing the dishes, etc.)? I could believe there is, but I’d be interested in seeing a cite for this, as it seems like it’d be hard to demonstrate given the many other effects of exercise. I could also imagine that a nominal level of muscular activity is sufficient for efficient immune response and that that threshold may be crossed without active exercise. (In other words, I’d like to learn more about this detail.) I don’t have any cites on measured benefits. All I’m saying is that based on the immunology classes I’ve had, it’s certainly a valid hypothesis. I’m sure studies have been done, but I myself am not aware of any. Perhaps you can search around for it on PubMed or other medical journals- a link between exercise and overall health or just immune systems. Try wandering around [here](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=exercise+Immune+system+levels&btnG=Search)if you like. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-dont-get-sick-how-precisely-do-i-not-do-it/507477.md?page=1)