Archive for the ‘Immune System’ Category
The Line of Defense
The human immune system is marvelous in its design and execution. When a virus or harmful bacteria enters the body, white blood cells are released to wage war against the infiltrators. This process is entirely involuntary, and most of the time the immune system successfully wards off sickness and disease. The immune system even has the ability to detect cancer during its earliest stages and eliminate the problem.
In order to remain healthy and strong, it’s in our best interest to utilize immune system booster. The body can be worn down for a number of reasons – lack of sleep, exposure to an unhealthy environment, etc. – and those are the times when we require a supplemental boost. To ensure that your body continues to successfully isolate and destroy viruses and bacteria, you’ll want to seek out an effective immune system boost.
Boost Immune System With This Fish Oil
- Image by richard ling via Flickr
Less than 15 years ago a compound discovered in a particular fish liver oil was identified as providing an immune system boost. The physicians who researched this compound were seeking a way to boost their patients immune system against a particular cancer. The compounds that were identified as building immune system against the cancer were identified as alkylglycerols. These alkylglycerols were obtained from the livers of coldwater sharks such as the Greenland shark. The fact that cancer is very rare in sharks may be due to the presence of alkylglycerols in their livers. The researchers found that the biologic effects of shark liver oil include stimulation of blood leukocyte and thrombocyte production as well as the activation of macrophage and anti-tumor activity.
Put another way, alkylglycerols led to lowered cancer cell reproduction and a reduced ability of the cancer cells to invade healthy cells. The authors concluded that alkylglycerols possess both cancer preventative properties, as well as cancer treatment effects. Alkylglycerols are beneficial against other enemies of our health, because they are known to increase the production of certain cytokines that attack viruses. According to some researchers, viral infections such as influenza or the common cold, can be prevented or reduced significantly by the addition of shark liver oil, taken at the first sign of symptoms. This is very good news for seniors who are concerned about fostering their senior health with an immune system boost.
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Weakened Immune System Promotes Infection
- Image by Doramon via Flickr
As seniors age their immune systems decline leaving them more susceptible to a host of infections including those from viruses, fungi, and bacteria. In the case of cancer cells unless the immune system inactivates them or kills them, they will spread and develop into a fully developed malignant tumor. Studies of the pathology of free radicals has shown the link between the damage caused by free radicals and the weakened immune system in aging seniors. For example between 1982 and 1992 deaths due to infectious diseases increased by 22% according to a report in a major American medical publication. The same publication laid much of the blame for this increase on lack of preventative health care.
The good news that seniors can take from this report is that they can take preemptive steps about how to boost immune system. The lack of preventative health care can be reversed by taking simple preemptive aging measures for building immune system. One of the most important steps that seniors can take is to follow a daily antioxidant regimen that includes fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and minerals that protect against free radical pathologies that suppress the immune system. It turns out that free radical pathologies have been implicated in most of the disease processes of aging. The main disease processes of aging include cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, and cataracts as well as other degenerative diseases.
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Give Your Immune System a Boost
Our stressful lifestyle has brought about a rise in the incidence of various ailments such as cancer, diabetes, and other stress-related diseases. More and more people complain too of headaches, back pains, and neck pains. Aside from a change in lifestyle, we can also feed our bodies with healthy food. Vegetables and fruits are the way to go because these contain vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidants. Antioxidants are known to fight the free radicals which cause cancer and premature aging.
If you are wondering how to boost immune system even more, you can supplement your diet with natural vitamins and minerals. Many inexpensive vitamins and minerals can greatly improve your immune system and shorten the time that you are ill. Not only will they help you when you get sick, they will also aid in prevention.
Seniors Can Preempt Winter Colds & Flu.
- Image via Wikipedia
As seniors age the strength of their immune systems begin to decline from a number of causes including chronic stress, poor nutrition, and previous illnesses. A weakened immune system can render seniors susceptible to coming down with simple colds, but these colds can progress to more serious illnesses such as full-blown pneumonia. For example, pneumonia and influenza continue to be one of the leading causes of death among Americans 65 years of age and older. Along the same line a weakened immune system will make a senior over 60 years of age very susceptible to suffering from outbreaks of shingles. Suffering from shingles is not life threatening like pneumonia, but it is very painful while it is active so that it deprives seniors of the enjoyment of their senior years.
The good news for seniors is that there are ways to achieve an immune system boost against colds, flu and cold facilitated pneumonia. Unlike the flu vaccines that target specific flu viruses, other means are available for building immune system that can defend against any cold or flu virus. A polysaccharide called beta-glucan that is derived from yeast can provide a powerful immune system boost. Similarly vitamin C is one of the vitamins to boost immune system, because it replaces the vitamin C typically lost during infections. The mineral zinc is needed for building the immune system.
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Too Many Or Too Few White Blood Cells?
White blood cell count plays an important role in the building immune system foundations and maintaining proper function. The white blood cells are usually accounted for in any blood assessment. A high white blood cell count may mean a patient has an infection, hyperslenism, a bone marrow disease or heavy metal poisoning.
A low white blood cell count could also indicate infection and can increase an individual’s likelihood of contracting an infection. A low white blood cell count may also mean that the body’s immune system has been compromised by a serious disease, a viral infection, alcoholism, drug use, hormone imbalances and anaphylactic shock.
Supplements Support the Big Five Health Categories
- Image by vieux bandit via Flickr
During the last few years numerous articles have appeared in the popular press in favor of taking nutritional supplements and other against taking them. In the reports in professional literature from medical and nutritional professionals a very healthy majority of medical professionals that includes both doctors and nurses recommend supplements to their patients. More than 75% of physicians and more than 80% of nurses recommend that their patients use supplements in addition to consuming a healthy diet and engaging in exercise. Typically a majority of both nurses and doctors recommended that their patients take multivitamins.
The use of supplements was recommended for five big health categories including overall health, bone health, joint health, healthy cholesterol levels, and cardiovascular health. The doctors and nurses practiced what they preached, because a healthy majority of both reported using supplements themselves. Multivitamins were the most popular supplement used by the doctors. This is good news for seniors who are concerned about geting preemptive aging information so that they can take steps to improve their senior health.
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Consume Good Fats To Protect Your Eyes
- Image via Wikipedia
Strange as it may sound some fats provide a protective effect for seniors against one of the enemies of our eyes. The good fats that protect eyes against age-related macular degeneration are the omega-3 fatty acids, nuts, fish, and olive oil. The bad fats that promote age-related macular degeneration are the well known enemies of general good health the trans fatty acids. In a recent study that included both women and men those who ate just one serving of fish per week lowered their risk of developing early macular degeneration by more than 30%. The results for those who consumed about two servings of nuts per week reduced their risk of developing early macular degeneration by more than 34%.
In another study those who had a high intake of trans fats showed a significant increase in developing late macular degeneration. By way of contrast moderate intake of olive oil provided protection against late macular degeneration. This good news for senior health, because it means seniors can take steps to protect their eyes against macular degeneration by making good choices in the fats that they consume.
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Save Your Senior Skin
- Image via Wikipedia
As we age some changes in our skin are inevitable, but if we learn to take care of our skin we can maintain a more optimum skin function as well as appearance. Seniors definitely need to protect their skin from the sun between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM standard time, because that is when the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun is the most intense. It is during those hours when exposed skin will suffer additional damage even if it is already spotted or wrinkled due to aging. Exposure between 10 and 3 increases the risk of developing skin cancer, too.
Several means can be used to protect the skin during that time; wearing protective clothing and applying sunscreen with a high sun protection factor (SPF) at least 30 will help. Exposure to the Sun before 10 AM and after 3 PM for about 20 minutes will allow our bodies to generate vitamin D the ‘sunshine vitamin’ that we need for our good health. For some seniors this type of brief expose may not be effective, but they can check with their physicians about supplementing with vitamin D3, in order to maintain a healthy level of that vitamin. Vitamin D is needed to promote senior health by providing preemptive aging support against more than 25 age related diseases.
Seniors can take additional steps to protect the condition of their skin. Gentle washing with warm, not hot water is important. Using a mild soap like a glycerin soap is very helpful, too. Finally after bathing and patting the skin dry, apply a moisturizing lotion to the skin. The final word about taking care to save senior skin is to drink lots of water.
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Preemptive Steps Against Cardiovascular Disease
- Image via Wikipedia
The modern drugs that are used to treat cardiovascular disease are well known, but the modern nutritional approach to preempt cardiovascular disease is not as well known. The term cardiovascular disease is a very general term used to cover a set of conditions that are ultimately caused by atherosclerosis. Until recently atherosclerosis was simply known as “hardening of the arteries” that appeared in folks who ate too much fat and got too little exercise. Today it is known that one of the earliest triggers for artherosclerosis is oxidant damage to fat molecules. This damage alerts the immune system that swings into action, but one of the results is inflammation. These are the initial steps in a cascade of events that produce the deadly final stage of cardiovascular disease.
The medical countermeasures against cardiovascular disease are aimed at establishing the proper balance between the levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and the low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Typically this means increasing the HDLs and decreasing the LDLs and triglycerides. It turns out that recent medical research has discovered a “third great wave” of cardiovascular disease prevention in terms of anti-inflammatory agents and antioxidants. This new approach offers the same benefits as the earlier approaches, but with far fewer side effects which is good news for promoting senior health against cardiovascular disease.
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