• Question: *Star question* How can one improve their immune system to kill all harmful bacteria? - Amman R, live chat

    Asked by on 15 Jun 2020. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Andrea Majstorovic

      Andrea Majstorovic answered on 15 Jun 2020:

      Hi, great question! But it is hard to give a direct answer to it as our immune system is as complex as the most advanced supercomputer! Immune system is doing a remarkable job in fighting the microbes that could cause a disease – and to do so, and to function well, it requires balance between reactions that cause inflammation and those that stop it when needed. Researchers are still learning and studying how is our body reacting when it encounters harmful bacteria, but what science has shown is that there are certain actions we can do to improve our immune system 🙂

      Thus, general health guidlines are:
      – do not smoke,
      – eat a healthy diet rich in fruits and veggies,
      – exercise regularly,
      – sleep well (highly recommended!),
      – wash your hands and take care how you handle your food,
      – try to minimise stress.

      These steps will not only help your immune system, but they are also protecting your whole body! 🙂

    • Photo: Nina Rzechorzek

      Nina Rzechorzek answered on 16 Jun 2020:

      Interesting question Amman R! In addition to the excellent suggestions by Andrea, my first thoughts are (1) by using our own commensal bacteria to out-compete harmful bacteria and/or ‘train’ our immune system to deal with them better and (2) do we really want to kill all harmful bacteria? This digestible review article explains the importance of (1) and highlights the fact that in even in health, there are as many bacterial cells in our body as there are human cells:
      https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2019.01203/full
      The point I am trying to make with (2) is that some bacteria that might cause only mild/moderate harm may produce substances that naturally kill (antibiotics), or help teach our immune system how to fight, more dangerous/deadly pathogens – pathogens have the potential to cause disease. This is a great place to start learning more about microbiology and health: https://microbiologysociety.org/why-microbiology-matters/what-is-microbiology/microbes-and-the-human-body/microbes-and-disease.html
      You will likely be aware that we are facing the massive global health challenge of antimicrobial resistance (see https://longitudeprize.org/blog-post/10-most-dangerous-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria). Wouldn’t it be great if we could boost our immune system against harmful bacteria rather than succumbing to disease and having to rely on antibiotics that might not work in the long-term? Vaccines are one way of doing this, and there are several vaccines available to protect us against bacterial pathogens (tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type B, cholera, typhoid, and Streptococcus pneumoniae…). But maybe we’ll come up with even smarter ways to train/enhance our immune system in the future. For now, my top tip is to get enough sleep on a regular basis!

    • Photo: Roy Drissen

      Roy Drissen answered on 16 Jun 2020:

      Good question, and already two good answers. I would like to add, that we should be pleased with what a great job our immune cells are already doing. Every day they are fighting bacteria that we get into contact with. Getting into contact with some bacteria is inevitable, but our immune cells quickly make them harmless, most of the time without us noticing, and without getting sick. The challenge lies in the times that the immune cells start to misbehave. Examples are when they form cancers, or when they become overactive in diseases like arthritis. That is what a lot of scientist work on, trying to make the immune cells behave again like normal, because that is pretty good.

    • Photo: Melanie Krause

      Melanie Krause answered on 16 Jun 2020:

      Hi! 🙂
      Unfortunately there is nothing you or anyone else could do that enables your immune system to kill all harmful bacteria. You can only do things that are generally considered ‘healthy habits’ like Andrea already mentioned to keep your body and and immune system in good shape.
      one thing I’d like to add is that the health and diverse diet part without a lot of processed food is especially important. There is new research that shows having a very monotone diet actually harms and reduces the number of ‘good’ bacteria you heave in your digestive system and these are interestingly very important for our immune system and all sorts of things.
      That seems very strange seeing as its bacteria living inside of us so you would think we don’t want and don’t need them but actually we do (well.. the good ones 😉

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