Health and fitness tips: Here's how can you keep your immune system from ageing

Wonder what are the signs of weak immune system or how ageing affects your immune system? Here's all you need to know from doctors

Over the last several years, there has been an overall interest in understanding immunosenescence, defined as the change in the immune system with age and especially more during these three years of ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Health experts insist that it not only results in a decreased number of cells to fight infections but also the altered function of the human body's defence, including response to vaccines - changes that do not matter in normal health but an older person may not mount an adequate immune response when faced with a new infection.

Signs of weak immune system:

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Sonam Solanki, Consultant Pulmonologist and Bronchoscopist at Masina Hospital in Mumbai's Byculla, shared, “Many factors like childhood infection and genetic factors contribute to the poor immune system but stress, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle also cause accelerated immunosenescence. Any form of stress, like physical/psychological/emotional or environmental, causes hormonal imbalance in the body. For example, cortisol is a natural steroid hormone produced in the body. The levels of cortisol increase during stress, suppressing one's immune system's effectiveness in fighting infection and mounting an adaptive immune response.”

Talking about how stress is linked to cardiovascular diseases, Dr Praveen Kulkarni, Senior Cardiologist, at Global Hospitals in Mumbai's Parel, said, “One of the main contributing factors to cardiovascular disease is stress. Acute and chronic stress can affect the cardiovascular system in multiple ways. An inflammatory state is one that stress causes. There is a surge in adrenaline levels when there is a lot of inflammation, swelling around or hormonal abnormalities. It results in a persistent state of irregular heartbeat, erratic blood pressure, and irregular sleep patterns. Sedentary lifestyle and inactivity is another factor. They develop insulin resistance making them more susceptible to diabetes. All these factors together increase the risk of heart disease significantly in patients who have chronic stress. This in turn can end up causing blockages, plaque builds up causing heart attacks.”

He asserted that this is one way where stress can affect the heart and give rise to hypertension, putting the patient at risk for diabetes, obesity and eventually leading to heart attacks. Dr Praveen Kulkarni added, “Broken heart syndrome is another distinct entity that occurs when stress causes heart disease, also called Takotsubo disease. When prone individuals are exposed to acute emotional stress, their heart rate drops suddenly, which leads to acute heart failure, rhythm abnormalities and in rare instances, sudden death. Symptoms of this are attributed to a sudden hormonal surge after a severe or pronounced trauma or emotional stress. This is a transient condition and eventually, the heart will recover with medication and support. This is a unique entity called broken heart syndrome and it is attributed to a severe amount of stress.”

Tips to keep your immune system from ageing:

A healthy diet contributes to the general well-being of an individual and is also essential to the immune system. Dr Sonam Solanki informed, “Deficiencies in macronutrients (Fats/carbohydrates and proteins) and micronutrients (Vitamin B6/12/E/folic acid/zinc/copper/iron/selenium and essential fatty acids) have been postulated to contribute to a healthy immune system. If there is a nutritional deficiency, supplementing and correcting prevent the immune ageing. There is not enough evidence to conclude that general nutritional supplements are helping with slowing immunosenescence.”

Revealing that the effect of enhancing immune function on host resistance to infection in healthy individuals is unclear, she suggested, “Probiotics and a healthy gut are known to improve immune function. Smoking/alcohol intake and other substances indirectly result in poor nutrition/ nutritional deficiencies and thus cause a poor immune system. Physical activity and exercise are other aspects of life that will help one's immunity slowly. During exercise, the circulation of immune cells around the body improves, and improvement in tissue immunity is noted. Exercise also has an indirect effect of reducing stress and inflammation, which also improves immunity. It contributes well to good nutrition as well. Strength training, weight training, HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and walking all contribute to a healthy immune system. Another practical way to keep the immune system from ageing is to take the recommended vaccines on time. Other healthy lifestyle components like sleep hygiene and hydration are equally crucial for a healthy immune system.”