16 signs your immune system is not doing well

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Cold hands and a tendency to sunburn can be dangerous symptoms.

The immune system is a collection of organs, tissues and cells that protects us from external influences that threaten our health. Thanks to her, we have immunity.

Every day it saves our lives: it repels the attacks of viruses and bacteria, fights internal inflammation, helps to destroy degenerated cells of the body and prevent the development of tumors.

But we only get all this if the immune system is working properly. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Why is the incorrect functioning of the immune system dangerous?

Sometimes the immune system becomes too "lazy", inhibited and does not have time to respond to the invasion of infections. In this case, it is easy for us to pick up any viral or bacterial infection - from ARVI to pneumonia, and we get sick longer.

And sometimes, on the contrary, it begins to be too active, aggressively attacking not only viruses and foreign cells, but also the native organism. This Leads Is Your Immune System Unhealthy? Why Things Can Go Wrong to the Development of Autoimmune Diseases:

• rheumatoid arthritis;
• multiple sclerosis;
• celiac disease (gluten intolerance);
• diabetes;
• lupus;
• irritable bowel syndrome;
• thyroid disease (eg, autoimmune thyroiditis);
• chronic fatigue syndrome.

This is not a complete list of violations caused by raging immunity.

Scientists still don't know for sure Is Your Immune System Unhealthy? Why Things Can Go Wrong, what exactly is causing our defense system to malfunction. But they learned at an early stage to recognize the symptoms that warn: something is wrong with the immune system.

Important: these symptoms are ambiguous and may be due to causes other than immune ones.

However, it is still worth paying attention to them.

What are the signs that your immune system is letting you down?

Experts from the medical publication WebMD have listed 16 Symptoms of Immune System Problems that are important points that can indicate an imbalance in the immune system.

1. Constantly cold hands

The feeling of coldness in the limbs can appear for various reasons. For example, smoking causes spasm of peripheral blood vessels. But a connection with the state of immunity, direct or indirect, is also likely.

2. Constipation or diarrhea that lasts more than two weeks

The gut is closely related to the immune system: in fact, it is an important part of it. Therefore, prolonged diarrhea or constipation should alert. So, diarrhea can warn that the immune system attacks the lining of the small intestine or digestive tract. Constipation hints that the intestines have become lazy for some reason, and it is possible that this inaction extends to the entire immune system as a whole.

3. Dry eyes

Burning sensation, gritty sensation, redness, pain in the eyes - these symptoms often accompany various autoimmune diseases.

4. Constant weakness and fatigue

If you regularly feel overwhelmed even in the morning after getting a good night's sleep, this could be a sign that your immune system is under constant stress. It is she who draws off the energy you need.

5. Slightly elevated temperature

If you have a constant temperature of about 37 ° C, it is possible that some kind of autoimmune disease develops in the body.

6. Constant headaches

Like most of the symptoms on this list, a splitting head can have dozens of causes. However, if the pain becomes persistent, it could be an autoimmune attack. For example, in some immune-related diseases, blood vessels in the brain are affected, causing discomfort.

7. Rash

The skin is an important element of the body's defense system: it is she who is the first barrier against microbes. How the skin looks and feels can reflect the quality of the immune system as a whole. Itching, rash, and persistent inflammation require attention.

8. Joint pain

Another early sign of overly aggressive immunity, which is targeting the cells of its own organs. Joints are among the first to come under attack.

9. Hair loss

The raging immune system can also affect the hair follicles, causing thinning of the hair.

10. Recurrent colds with complications

If you have to take antibiotics more than twice a year (four times for children), your immune system may be weakened. Other warning signs: chronic sinus infections (sinusitis, frontal sinusitis, ethmoiditis, sphenoiditis), otitis media more often than four times a year, pneumonia more than once.

11. Hypersensitivity to ultraviolet light

If you have always sunbathed normally, and now suddenly notice that you are constantly sunbathing, we may not be talking about an aggressive sun, but about hostile immunity.

12. Numbness or tingling in the hands and feet

Perhaps you just sat out your leg or your arm became numb due to the fact that you were in an uncomfortable position for a long time. If your limbs only go numb from time to time, chances are you are okay. But if numbness and tingling sensations are regular, it could be a sign of immune malfunctions associated with damage to nerves or blood vessels.

13. Problems with swallowing

There are many reasons why food or water becomes a lump in the throat. And one of them is autoimmune diseases.

14. Unexplained weight gain or loss

If your eating habits and approach to exercise have not changed, and your weight has begun to increase or decrease, this is an alarming symptom. This could be due to autoimmune damage to the thyroid gland, developing diabetes, or a growing tumor that your body's defenses are unable to cope with.

15. White spots on the skin

Sometimes the immune system begins to fight against the pigment cells of the skin - melanocytes. Because of this, white spots appear on the skin.

16. Yellowing of the skin or eyes

Jaundice can appear when the immune system attacks and destroys healthy liver cells. This condition is called autoimmune hepatitis.

What to do if you have symptoms of a malfunctioning immune system

Be sure to complain to the therapist! Tell him in detail all the symptoms that seem dangerous to you. The doctor will study your medical record, ask questions about the lifestyle, health of relatives (in order to exclude or confirm hereditary diseases), offer to pass a number of tests.

Your symptoms may not be related to immune failure. But only a qualified physician will establish this.

Based on the results of the examination, the therapist can send you to specialized specialists: immunologist, endocrinologist, dermatologist, rheumatologist, hepatologist. Failures in the immune system are often individual, therefore, the treatment of each case requires its own professional approach.