How does age affect your immune system?

Ah! The joys of aging! Waking up with a new wrinkle on your forehead, realizing that you’re pulling another gray hair out of your scalp – this is what makes getting up in the morning so much more fun. But wait, we’ve got news for you (drumroll) – aging not only affects our looks but also has an impact on our immune system.

Ageing: Body’s Passport to Slowdown

As one grows old (it’s inevitable), experiencing changes in their body becomes a regular thing. Feeling tired most of the time is no longer just because you stayed up late binging on shows on Netflix, age is a major contributing factor too.

“It was all easy when I Was Young!”

Remember those days when you recovered from flu in no time or took cold medicines simply as refreshers? Good ol’days, weren’t they? Unfortunately, with aging comes vulnerability towards infections and diseases.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

The immune system remembers pathogens it has encountered before and develops immunity against them accordingly (Smart amirite?). However,the memory functionality does have holes; meaning as we get older these ‘holes’ grow larger resulting in weakening ability to recognize harmful bacteria or viruses . This leads to slow recognition by the body which ultimately results into slow response rate against infected cells causing damage across various organs .

This prolonged activation due to ineffective response reduces diversity & increases exhaustion among T-cells (hey Tcells!, wakey-wakey!) thus reducing capability further over time.

Table 1 : Effects Of Age On Immune Cells

Type Of Cell Effect
T-Cells Reduce
B-Cells Decrease
Macrophages Decrease

(SIGH) It appears immortality continues eluding us yet again.

Short Term Vs Long Term Effects

In the short term, this inefficiency does not have a significant impact on health. It allows mild infections to develop into more severe ones – easier than you would like (go figure)-. COVID-19 pandemic has been an unfortunate event which has clearly highlighted that our immune system is fragile and also emphasized how old age releases higher vulnerability (despite being brutal it’s just another reminder towards immortality again). The situation can make things challenging in case of more serious illnesses.

Table 2 : Impact Of Age On Immune System Over Time

Age Impacts
0 – 30 years Effective and responsive
30 – 60 years Reduced effectiveness
Above 60 Years Reduced response rate & diversity among T-cells

(Long Sad Pause!!)

We talked about aging as a factor influencing your immune system. But wait folks, there’s much more!

“Coffee Please!”

After age, healthy eating is what counts for maintaining good (read: better) immunity levels. Eating fruits and vegetables high in vitamins & minerals boosts the generation of antibodies neutralizing foreign bodies from the blood (GO COLORFUL-FRUITS!). Drinking green tea regularly encourages protecting cells that help reduce oxidative stress leading to inflammation; sounds too deep? Think of it as drinking coffee but JUST BETTER!

(sip,sip)

Zzzz To Good Health

So fresh air seems lighter now-a-days!! Why because sleeping habits directly affect one’s body by impacting concentration levels consistently over time . Lack of sleep leads down pathes we all dread both physically and mentally! As sleep deprivation affects cortisol production, causing white blood cells’ efficacy to be hampered 12. So no matter what comes back home with you after work consider, catching up with lost sleep as equally important.

“Move It Move It!”

There’s no dearth of exercise benefits when it comes to boosting your immune system. Exercise boosts overall health allowing better cell circulation, strengthening blood vessels & increasing white blood cells efficiency thereby reducing risks of chronic heart conditions (PS: Also makes you feel less guilty about that 4000 cal pizza, so pheeew!) 3. What are we waiting for? Tighten those laces and go knock yourself out!

(cricket sounds)

Wrap-Up Time! No Johnson! Not That Kind Of Wrap

To summarize the above : a healthy lifestyle in general is known to keep one successfully covered against harmful diseases . Now while it does not guarantee complete immunity against common cold or flu but at least they help in definitely toning down severity upon onset. At lastly again, another reminder – The elderly seem most affected by infections due to their weakened immune systems; hence cautious moves can only help them stay safe.To sum it all (for the fourth time repeating) ageing weakens our immunity levels over time making healthy living an essential aspect towards maintaining good mind-body balance during old age.

Footnotes:


  1. Papoutsakis C., Hwang J.P., Schmittgen T.D., et al.: Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Thermoregulation During Acute Cold Stress. Int J Ind Ergon 2018, 66:178–189 [PubMed

  2. Purnell E.W.: Sleep loss affects diurnal rhythm phasing through impaired temperature negative feedback in older adults.Neurosci Lett 2009, doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2008.[PubMed]]406 

  3. Kohut ML, Davis JM, Kim YS. Can Regular Exercise Counteract Immunosenescence? Empirically Testing a Longitudinal Exercise Intervention Study in Immuno-Compromised Adults. Front Immunol 2021;12:501. [PubMed] 

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