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Immunological diseases can impair the body’s defense system or cause an inappropriate immune response. Proper medical follow-up, adherence to treatment, and healthy lifestyle habits are essential to prevent infections, manage symptoms, and improve quality of life.
A person’s immune status depends on their overall health: proper nutrition and avoiding exposure to tobacco smoke and chemicals whenever possible. In early childhood, the vaccines and immunizations recommended in the vaccination schedule help build a competent immune system.
In primary immunodeficiencies, early detection is important, usually indicated by the presence of frequent infectious diseases. Secondary immunodeficiencies occur during treatment for neoplasms or in transplant patients who must take lifelong immunosuppressive medication.
In autoimmune diseases, it is essential to follow the prescribed medication, often for life, and to avoid excessive cold and sun exposure, which can trigger disease manifestations. To maintain the functionality of joints and muscles, following specific rehabilitation guidelines is important.
In immune deficiency, administering immunoglobulins (blood proteins responsible for our defense) can play an important role. When the deficiency affects immune cells, immunoglobulins are not effective; in such cases, antibiotics can prevent or reduce infections.
In diseases caused by excessive or poorly regulated immune responses, anti-inflammatory drugs and medications that modulate immunity are used, such as corticosteroids and biologics, which block specific inflammatory pathways. Other drugs may also have beneficial effects through less well-understood mechanisms, such as some medications used to treat malaria.
Immunological diseases are disorders in which the immune system does not function properly, either due to overactivity or deficiency. This imbalance can cause inappropriate responses to external agents or damage the body’s own tissues.
Immune System Diseases
There are immune system disorders caused by:
a) Loss of function: Primary immunodeficiencies, acquired immunodeficiencies.
b) Excess of function: Autoimmune diseases, in which the body, through an excessive exercise of its defenses, attacks itself due to the loss of a fundamental function: self-tolerance. This means that under normal conditions, a body’s own cell will never attack another of its own cells.
In the first case, immunodeficiencies are indicated by the repeated occurrence of infections, which is the key sign for detection. These can appear early in life due to a genetic alteration, in adulthood as a result of treatments for other diseases such as cancer, or can be acquired through viral infections, with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) being one of the most significant.
In the second case, autoimmune diseases are suggested by the appearance of inflammation without apparent cause in joints, lungs, kidneys, liver, or other organs.
Symptoms primarily depend on whether they are due to a loss of function (recurrent infections) or an excess of function (inflammatory disease affecting one or more organs).
Immune diseases can affect anyone throughout their life. In general, immunodeficiencies are more common in early childhood, while autoimmune diseases usually affect young adults, more frequently women.
The body’s defense capacity is assessed in two ways:
Basal state: in the patient’s ordinary condition.
After stimulation: the immune cells are stimulated in the laboratory to evaluate their function.
For autoimmune diseases, factors present in the blood are analyzed; elevated levels may indicate abnormal activity against the body itself.
Diagnostic evaluations include:a) Study of innate immunityb) Study of acquired immunityc) Study of the functional capacity of the immune systemd) Study of factors characterizing autoimmune disease
Assessing immune competence can be done in several ways:
Detection and counting of immune cells, specifically lymphocytes.
Laboratory stimulation of lymphocytes to test their functionality.
Analysis of blood or biopsy samples for factors causing self-attack, such as autoantibodies (defense proteins with abnormal self-aggressive function).
Study of elevated cellular messengers indicating the activity of these cells against the body.
Immunodeficiency: restoration of the immune system’s functional capacity.
Autoimmunity: modulation or inhibition of the immune system’s self-aggressive capacity.
Laboratory tests to assess immune system functionality are standard. Genetic tests are also used to assist in diagnosis.
In addition to general recommendations for a healthy diet, regular exercise, and abstaining from smoking, adherence to the childhood vaccination schedule is essential. Vaccinations not only protect against specific infections but also help improve overall immune defense.
Infectious Diseases, General Hospital
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