What Are the Symptoms of a Weak Immune System?
If you’ve noticed that you’re often sick, feel fatigued or have other nagging symptoms you can’t figure out, it may mean your immune system is weakened.
Check out the warning signs and what you can do to give your immune system a boost.
1. Your Stress Level is High
The stress level range is from 0 to 100, where 0 to 25 is a resting state, 26 to 50 is low stress, 51 to 75 is medium stress, and 76 to 100 is a high stress state. Knowing your stress level can help you identify stressful moments throughout your day.
if you have a lot of stress in your life and this persists over a long period of time, this can adversely affect health. Chronic stress can compromise immune function which can lead to a number of problems such as digestive issues and frequent infections and illness.
Chronic stress can also cause symptoms such as difficulty sleeping. Lack of sleep, or a disrupted sleeping pattern, is also associated with reduced efficiency of immune function, so it seems stress, sleep and immune function are all related.
2. Your Wounds Are Slow to Heal
When you damage your skin, for example, if you get a burn or cut, your body must work to protect the wound and regenerate new skin to allow this to heal. The healing process relies heavily on healthy immune cells.
However, if your immune system is compromised, your skin cannot regenerate as efficiently, and you may find that you are left with wounds that take a lot longer to heal, or perhaps even get infected.
3. You Have Frequent Infections
If you seem to battle frequent infections, your immune system might be sending you red flags.
The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology reports that signs of a possible immune deficiency in adults include:
- Having more than four ear infections in one year
- Developing pneumonia twice during a one-year period
- Needing more than two courses of antibiotics a year
4. You Feel Tired All the Time
If your immune system is struggling, you may feel as though you have no energy to do anything and you are tired all the time. One of the reasons for this is your body is trying to conserve as much energy as possible for the immune system to use in an attempt to fight off bacteria and illness.
How can I boost my immune system?
There are many ways in which you can boost your immune function, including:
- Ensuring your diet is rich in fruits and vegetables, specifically those containing vitamin C, such as oranges, strawberries, red and green peppers and broccoli, and beta-carotene (vitamin A), such as red peppers, carrots, spinach, and yellow fruits such as apricots and mango – these nutrients help keep your respiratory tract healthy and strong for fighting infections
- Exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight
- Getting plenty of sleep and minimising stress
- Drinking alcohol in moderation
- Quitting smoking.