DEAR DR ROACH:
Would you please clarify what it means to be immunocompromised? Is it the same as having an immune disorder? If a person has an autoimmune disorder, are they considered immunocompromised, or would they have an exceptionally robust immune system?
As people age, their immune systems weaken. Would an autoimmune disease become less severe with age? Do allergies become less severe with age? — J.C.
ANSWER:
Immune disorders include both immunodeficiencies and autoimmune diseases. An ideal immune system would keep you protected from all infections (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and others) and would kill any cancers. It would never mistake part of the body for an invader. Unfortunately, as good as our immune systems are, they aren’t quite perfect.
We sometimes simplify that “immunocompromised” is having too little of an immune system, while people with an autoimmune disease have too much of one, but it’s more complicated. Most people with immunodeficiencies have “holes” in their immune system so that they are susceptible to certain germs, but they may be perfectly good at fighting off others.
People with very severe immunodeficiencies, where they are very immunocompromised, may be at risk from practically any pathogen. Sadly, people with severe immunodeficiencies are also at increased risk from many cancers, since cancers are often, and usually, stopped by the immune system.
Unfortunately, people with autoimmune diseases are not protected against infections and cancers. Worse yet, treatment for autoimmune diseases, although effective at relieving the symptoms of the autoimmune disease, usually put a person at a higher risk for certain infections and cancers.
Allergies, like autoimmune diseases, are immune and inflammatory responses that are more forceful than optimal. It is often, but not universally true, that they decrease over time. Some autoimmune diseases, such as Type 1 diabetes, are much more likely in young people, while others, like…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply