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The Importance of Our Immune System
Many of our forum members suffer from a compromised immune system. There are various causes why patients suffer from inflammation, but it is important to note that inflammation is a symptom of pulmonary fibrosis and not IPF. I read an article titled, “How Your Amazing Immune System Protects You from Infection” that was published in Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. The article details how our immune system works. Dr. Leonard Calabrese, MD, writes “there are two radically different scenarios” on how your immune system reacts when faced with adversity.
- “A localized infection with a bacterium such as a staph or strep may induce an inflammatory response, such as a boil.”
- “A generalized infection such as the flu may stimulate a generalized attack and result in an inflammatory response, such as a fever.”
What I found interesting was the statement saying, “the immune system works at its peak during our reproductive years, and it declines as we age. This means that older people have compromised immune systems in general, which makes them more susceptible to getting infections and also more prone to complications when they do”.
Dr. Calabrese also writes in his article, “there are no quick fixes to boost our immune health, but we can gain immune strength by focusing on exercise, diet and nutrition, and managing our mental health and stress levels.”
I am adding a link titled, “Strengthen Your Immune System with 4 Simple Strategies”. The article pairs well with the previous article. There are many sites that focus on anti-inflammatory diets to strengthen your immune system and alleviate pain.
Have any of our forum members attempted to improve your immune system with diet or other strategies? Please offer your suggestions or web links to assist other forum members.
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14 Replies
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Mark Kozial,
Thank you for information. I will read it, it is fascinating stuff. I have one doctor telling me I have arthritis resulting from an autoimmune disorder, and my IPF doctors telling me i don’t have any autoimmune issues.
“it is important to note that inflammation is a symptom of pulmonary fibrosis and not IPF”
Isn”t IPF a type of pulmonary Fibrosis and does this imply IPF has symptoms not found in “regular” pulmonary fibrosis?
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Hello Gil, thanks for commenting. You are correct, inflammation is a result of having pf. This is why some pf patients are prescribed prednisone and cellcept. Inflammation is not a marker of ipf. Ipf is a form of pf and both diseases fall under the umbrella of interstitial lung disease. The main difference between ipf and pf is that the cause of the fibrosis is unknown in ipf and the inflammation occurring in pf patients. Take care, mark
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I have a pretty good immune system and always have had, even with my lung diseases each flare up has been caused by outside influences, i.e smoke, pollen (I am allergic to pine pollen and live surrounded by such trees !!) I rarely get colds, if I do it is just the sniffles for a couple of days. I try to eat well, used to be able to walk with my dogs for 10 then 4 then 2 kms a day, now can’t take them out at all, O2 at 6lts, luckily my daughter does, and I have a huge 2,000m2 garden. I have a home exercise machine with which I do my pulmonary rehabilitation exercises. Prednisone seems to help keep everything under control too. Known cause of PF
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Hello Susan, thank you for commenting. It’s sad you had to endure your lungs being invaded by smoke from a nearby neighbor. Smoke is probably the worst environmental hazard that us lung disease patients endure. It’s also sad to hear that your oxygen requirements have increased and you can no longer take the dogs for their daily walk. It also great that you are completing your pulmonary rehab exercises from home. Thank you for being a valued member of our forum. You are an informed and educated member who offers a plethora on valuable life experience and information. Take care, Mark.
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Great article Mark! I have a question about boosting the immune system in one with a lung transplant. It is something that comes up quite often. Since those who have had a transplant are immunosuppressed, would boosting the immune system (say with diet) counteract this and cause potential problems with organ rejection?
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Hello Taleena, as a transplant patient I don’t think we can truly boost our immune system because our immune system operates at a significant deficit. We can however, rid our bodies of inflammation that causes other medical problems. Thank you for commenting, mark.
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Thank you Mark for your very kind words
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How can you get rid of inflammation? I have been trying for years and my crp is always extremely high.
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@garberluck
Hi Kathy,
Really good question, I’d also like to know this! My CRP was extremely high in the spring and while it has come down a little bit, it remains pretty high still. I’ll do some investigating into this and see what emerges, and if anyone else has had conversation with their doctors around this and/or has some credible information to share on this topic, I’d love to hear from you. Thanks in advance 🙂
Sincerely,
Char. -
I have asked my immunologist, pulmonologist, rheumotologist and cardiologist about the elevated CRP and how to lower it. No one knows!
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Interesting Kathy, thanks for sharing but a bummer that no one seems to know how to reduce the CRP. I’ll be curious for this answer, and let you know if I find/hear anything. Mine remains quite high, though it has come down compared to the spring. I’m always curious to know what it is when I have bloodwork done. Take good care and thanks for connecting,
Char. -
- I am very new to this disease and in these posts I have seen CRP. What does this mean, please.
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Hi Diane, crp stands for c- reactive protein. It is a blood marker for inflammation in your body. There are several instances where infection or disease may cause a high inflammation marker. There are also foods to avoid to decrease inflammation and foods to eat to also decrease the inflammation in your body. A doctor also may order a lasik medication to rid your body of excessive inflammation. The chef Michael Symon wrote a book several years ago about the inflammation in his body and recipes to decrease inflammation in your body. He has rheumatoid arthritis, which is a cause of inflammation. I hope helped you understand this a lil better. Take care, Mark.
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Thank you Mark for you reply to CRP. I will try to find the book you mentioned on foods. That is something one can hopefully control.
Diane
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