Seniors appear to be vulnerable to many viruses and fall victim to illnesses more frequently than younger people not because their immunity levels are weaker, instead, it is due to overworked immunity systems. An older person’s immune system has a tendency to respond to infectious invaders by over reacting when contact has been made, according to new research.
An elderly individual’s immune system overreacts when taking action against infection and ultimately they will endure a physical toll to their bodies because of it. By comparison, younger individuals are better able to combat infections and might not even know they have been targeted. The exaggerated response by seniors can also harm cells by leaving them inflamed, so warned the researchers.
Medical authorities had always believed that as we aged, our immunity response would decline from wear and tear, which was the reason for many older people succumbing to colds and viruses. They now think it is possible that a higher immunity response – and not flawed immunity – assaults the individuals system and can lead to illness in these people, according to the Yale School of Medicine researchers who were the principals in the study.
The research examined the reaction to the common herpes virus, in elderly and young mice immune systems. As the study progressed, the researchers noticed that the older mice, aged between eighteen and twenty months, inflammation resulted as well as liver damage, which led to death in some cases. However, there was not any damage in the younger mice in the study.
The results of the study were published and released in the Cell Host and Microbe journal and suggested that elderly rodents submit to viral illnesses because of their overactive immune system responses and not because of a reduction in immunity defenses. The older mice had faulty resistance reactions and rather than enhancing the immunity response, on the contrary, certain inflammation pathways should be repressed in order to reduce the risk of viral contamination.
The elderly are commonly vaccinated against seasonal influenza infection due to the belief that they are more vulnerable to the infection. Nevertheless, those who are aged sixty five or more are not categorized as an at risk faction who should be receiving the swine flu or H1N1 vaccine since it appears they are not prone to the pandemic virus as the younger population seems to be.
Medical scientists think that an earlier exposure to related viruses such as H1N1 might have provided the elderly with a limited protection against the H1N1 novel virus.
Wed, Dec 30, 2009
Bioscience, Gerontology, Health And Aging