Every now and then we get sick, especially if it’s the season or if someone catches a cold in the office. If you’re getting frequent colds or infections consistently and both your kids and co-workers are healthy, it might be a sign that your immune system is functioning less than optimally or completely compromised. Luckily, Naturopathic Doctors are trained to identify where your immune system is weakened and why.
What is the Immune System?
Your immune system is an extremely complex web of antibodies and immune tissues that identifies and wards off invaders. The lymphatic system runs right under your skin and includes your tonsils, adenoids, spleen, and thymus, as well as 600-700 lymph nodes that filter lymph as it circulates. What’s Lymph you’re wondering? Lymph is a clear fluid filled with white blood cells, they’re the cells that make antibodies to recognize and destroy invading organisms. When your immune system isn’t functioning properly, it’s easier to succumb to bacterial and viral infections.
Why am I Sick all the Time?
Unless you’re out licking subway poles, there are many reasons people’s immune systems don’t work as well as they should. Sometimes you’re missing important nutrients in your diet, or maybe you’re not getting enough sleep. In Canada, and especially in the winter, vitamin D deficiency is common and you need enough of it for proper immune functions.
It can also be possible that you’re allergic to something in your diet or environment. Your digestive tract is a very important part of your immune system, and if you have food sensitivities or an improper balance of healthy bacteria, your health might suffer for it.
Does Stress Affect my Immune System?
In short — yes! Stress hugely affects your immune system! The main stress hormone, cortisol, is a powerful immune system suppressor, and if you have chronic high stress levels, your immune system can’t do its job. We can help you identify what’s stressing you out, and have many natural therapies that can help balance your stress levels.
Does Echinacea Work?
Echinacea is popularly used to treat colds and other respiratory tract infections. It works, but only if you take it right when you feel the first symptoms, and in the right dose. There are many, many other herbal medicines that can be used to help your immune system to function properly and bring it back to balance.
Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotics revolutionized the medical industry, but many bacteria are outsmarting these sophisticated antibiotics, and are rapidly evolving ways to evade antibiotic medicines. The list of ‘superbugs’ or antibiotic-resistant bacteria is growing larger all the time, and one of the biggest things that contributes to antibiotic resistance is prescribing antibiotics when they’re not necessary.
Naturopathic doctors know how to treat many infections without using prescription antibiotics. There are many very powerful, very effective herbs that can be used alone or in combination to fight infection. And, we’re able to prescribe drugs in necessary cases.
An exciting phenomenon exists: when herbal medicine is used in combination with prescription antibiotics, the combination is more effective than either treatment on its own. One of the ways bacteria have learned to resist antibiotics is by pumping them back out of their cells. Certain herbs can actually prevent the bacteria from doing this, so when you take the prescription and the herb together, the prescription medication is able to do its job. How cool is that?
Find out about the natural power to supercharge your immune system and book and appointment now!
