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A healthy immune system protects against real threats such as infectious organisms and cancer cells. It also knows not to attack our own tissues or to go on the offensive against harmless substances like pollen.
There are many things we do on a daily basis that determine the state of our immune response. Individuals need to take responsibility for their own state of health. Conventional doctors do little to help patients actually improve their immune system function. I am
both amazed and horrified when I consult with a patient who has received conventional medicine treatment for cancer. It seems to me that once a tumor has been successfully removed or destroyed through radiation or chemotherapy, the patient is on his or her own. No thought is given to the conditions that allowed the tumor to develop in the first place. What I recommend is a thorough evaluation to determine where the patient's physiology is out of balance. Then we take steps through natural means to improve metabolic function, which increases resistance to disease. I will devote a future newsletter to the subject of promoting cancer resistance.
There are many factors that influence immune system response. Choosing the wrong parents can get you off to a bad start (that's my "wise guy" way of saying genetics are a factor). What happens to you in the womb is important. If the mother is stressed or malnourished while pregnant the baby is affected. If the baby is delivered by cesarean section rather than natural vaginal birth, that is a negative. The baby delivered by C-section is not exposed to the normal flora and so it's sterile intestinal tract is not properly colonized with "probiotics" but may be colonized with more "bad" bacteria like clostridium difficile. This is more likely to happen with a hospital birth versus home birth. These factors influence development of eczema, food allergies, and asthma for years afterward.
The mother's first milk, or colostrum, is critical to activation of the baby's immune system. Factors within colostrum allow the mother to passively transfer immunity to the newborn. If the baby is not breast-fed, this is a strike against developing a healthy immune system.
As a toddler, if the living environment is too clean and sterile, the immune system may not develop naturally and there will be a greater tendency to allergy and asthma.
Then, of course, throughout our lives we have the influences of diet, exercise, rest, stress, and toxicity.
If you eat poorly, your immune system will not work well. If you eat high-sugar foods, there is a drop in the immune system's ability to battle infection. If you eat a diet lacking in omega 3 fatty acids from fish, you are prone to inflammatory conditions, including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and Alzheimer's disease, to name a few.
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Killer T cells attacking cancer cell
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Phytochemicals, the thousands of different constituents of fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and other plant foods, also modulate our immune response. Green tea consumption, for example, can help reduce your chances of getting the flu. In general, a diet low in unrefined plant foods is a risk factor for immune system dysfunction and development of chronic degenerative diseases, including many forms of cancer. Diet can be supplemented with an organic dehydrated fruit and vegetable powder like Phytoganix by Metagenics.
Rest and exercise must be properly balanced for healthy immune response. You can get too much of a good thing. Athletes in heavy training or following an utra-endurance event like the marathon often develop respiratory infections due to immune compromise.
One's emotional state has a powerful effect on immune function. Individuals who feel they have no locus of control are more prone to illness.
An interesting study looked at the immediate effects of emotions on immune activity. Two groups of individuals had baseline tests of salivary Secretory IgA (see "Featured Lab Test" in left column), an important immune system protector. Then one group was asked to think of something or someone that made them feel good and appreciative- they experienced feelings of compassion. The other group was asked to imagine something that made them feel angry. Subsequent measures of SIgA found that just 5 minutes of feeling angry resulted in immune system suppression for six hours!
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Anger suppresses immune system
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An individual's immune system can be helped through natural therapies that are based upon specialized testing to determine the individual's areas of need. For example, if you are genetically intolerant of the grain protein called gluten, you will experience big improvements in your immune system and overall health by avoiding foods that contain gluten. If you are not sensitive to gluten then the same benefits would not be seen by avoiding it.
Nutritional status is very important when it comes to having a good immune system. I like to test all my patients to determine what nutrients they need to supplement. Toxicity is another important factor. Again, I like to test patients for toxins like heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum. When these are identified, proper treatments to remove them from the body helps restore more normal immune responses. For example, mercury toxicity has been associated with autoimmune thyroid disease and pesticides have been correlated with rheumatoid arthritis.
There are many good nutritional supplements for normalizing immune response. When a person has allergies or inflammatory conditions, the goal is to "cool off" the immune response. Anti-inflammatory plant compounds like curcumin and luteolin are very good for this.
With infections and cancers the goal is to boost the immune system.
Transfer factor is a substance that actually helps with both immune problems. It helps calm down an overactive immune response and at the same time can boost the immune cells ability to battle foreign invaders. Transfer factor has been the subject of more than 4000 papers. It is naturally found in many tissues and secretions. The products I use, OraMune TF and OraMune Max contain transfer factor derived from bovine colostrum. These products also contain colostrum, which is a source of other valuable immune substances such as immunoglobulins or antibodies.
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Macrophage engulfing bacteria
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OraMune Max has an additional powerful immune activator called Beta-1, 3/1,6 D-Glucan. This is actually a chain of sugars derived from the cell wall of baker's yeast. There are receptors on our macrophages for Beta-1, 3/1,6 D-Glucan. Macrophages are white blood cells that scavenge and gobble up foreign invaders like bacteria. Beta-1, 3/1,6 D-Glucan activates the macrophage to go into "overdrive" and also stimulates other aspects of the immune system.
Beta-1, 3/1,6 D-Glucan has been demonstrated in published research to be helpful with many immune-related conditions. In animal studies it has improved the success of antibiotics and chemotherapy. It has also improved the effectiveness of radiation therapy while reducing side effects. Lastly, Beta-1, 3/1,6 D-Glucan has been shown to improve wound healing.
For a more detailed discussion about Beta-1, 3/1,6 D-Glucan click here
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