We all know someone who never (or almost never) gets sick. Like those people who during the covid-19 pandemic were exposed to the virus over and over again and, even so, never got sick. This ability, which sometimes seems like a superpower, has intrigued the scientific community for years because, at least until now, it only uses a few clues to understand what could be behind this phenomenon. But what is the reason why some people get less sick than others? According to new research published this Tuesday in the journal ‘Nature Communications’, the answer could lie in an innate characteristic known as immune resilience.
To understand what it is about, let’s start this story at the beginning. Even before we are born, our body begins to develop its immune system. That is, a invisible ‘shield’ designed to defend our body from viruses, bacteria and other agents, both internal and external. This protective barrier is configured, on the one hand, depending on genetic factors and, on the other hand, through environmental elements such as, for example, Habits such as diet, exercise, rest, and stress management. All these elements, which can change throughout life, are what ultimately determine the strength of our defenses. But why do two people who have the same habits get sick differently? And above all: why are there people who never get sick?
The strength of the immune system depends on both biological factors and environmental elements such as habits
To answer this question, an international team of researchers has analyzed a wide variety of studies on how the immune system works in both humans and animals. In all, they collected data on more than 48,500 people and multiple animal models. Analysis of this information revealed that one of the most important factors to stabilize healthy It is not so much the strength of the immune system but its ability to adapt quickly to deal with infections and inflammatory processes. This phenomenon is known as immune resilience and, according to the experts, comes determined mostly by hereditary factors and it can be ‘monitored’ through the levels of T lymphocytes and different genetic signatures.
more resilient profiles
The study also finds a consistency between the immune resilience and life expectancy. According to the experts who have led this research, people with a high capacity to react to both infections and inflammatory diseases also are the ones who, on average, live longer. Even in cases where diseases such as HIV, influenza, covid-19, sepsis or skin cancer have just developed, these individuals with high immune resilience are the ones who the more likely they are to outgrow the condition with good result.
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According to the experts, this characteristic can be found in people of all ages and, as some studies suggest, could be more common among women. This hypothesis coincides with other studies that also indicate that the women have better innate immunity than men (In other words, their immunological ‘first barrier’ against external threats is usually more resistant and, in addition, they also have more tools to control a possible infection and prevent it from spreading throughout the body). This would explain why women tend to get less sick than men.
Immune resilience tends to be more common among women, according to this study
The strength of our immune system, paradoxical as it may seem, also Depends on our disease history. This phenomenon is known as adaptive immunity and has to do with our body’s ability to remember past infections and avoid future infections. In the case of covid-19, for example, several studies suggest that the people with allergies have an immune system more prepared to develop a rapid and powerful cellular response coping with a coronavirus infection. The same happens in the case of colds, which strengthen cross-immunity against similar viruses and, strange as it may seem, protect us against other respiratory infections.