The common cold is an illness most of us will get at some point throughout the year. Headaches, a sore throat, runny nose, and cough are all part of the fun. Colds usually don’t result in severe illness, and our body’s immune system can fight it off after a few days.
200 or more different viruses cause colds. Once you have fended one virus off, your immune system is better equipped to defeat it the next time you are exposed to it. But does this make your immune system stronger?
In this article, find out how the immune system fights off colds and whether this makes your defenses stronger.
The Immune Response To Colds
When a cold-causing virus invades your nasal passages, it hijacks cells there to enable it to multiply and infect other cells. Once cells are invaded, proteins called cytokines pass on distress signals to tell your immune system to take action 1.
Once the message is received, and an immune response is launched, blood vessels in the infected areas become dilated in order to deliver more white blood cells to the scene. These are immune cells that destroy harmful pathogens like viruses.
The swelling of your airways and chemicals released from white blood cells cause symptoms like a runny nose and cough - it’s not the virus causing these 2.
Does The Immune System Get Stronger After Illness?
The immune system doesn’t necessarily get stronger after you are ill from a cold. It only becomes better equipped to fight off the same virus again. Let us elaborate.
There are two types of white blood cells. Phagocytes are the killer cells, and lymphocytes make proteins called antibodies which attach to the virus to tell phagocytes to kill them. These antibodies are stored so that the next time you come into contact with the same virus.
With such a quick response, you may not get sick at all. Or you may experience a much milder version. The more often you get ill, the more antibodies your immune system acquires. This is known as immunity 3.
How To Strengthen The Immune System
Taking a supplement can provide the right nutrients to optimize the immune system. Performance Lab PL-Immune contains essential vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin D and C, to help activate and enhance the function of important immune cells. This strengthens and restores the body’s natural defenses to support better health.
Summary
The common cold is an infection caused by a virus. The immune system responds by dilating blood vessels in the infected area to deliver plenty of white blood cells. These immune cells kill viruses and produce antibodies that enable the immune system to recognize a virus.
Contrary to popular belief, your immune system doesn’t become stronger after a cold. However, if you are exposed to the same virus again, stored antibodies mean your body is better prepared to fight it off again, preventing you from falling ill.
Supplements like Performance Lab PL-Immune can provide some great immune-boosting benefits!
References
- Mills, Jake T., et al. "Airway epithelial cells generate pro-inflammatory tenascin-C and small extracellular vesicles in response to TLR3 stimuli and rhinovirus infection." Frontiers in immunology (2019): 1987.
- Warner, Stephanie M., et al. "Rhinovirus replication and innate immunity in highly differentiated human airway epithelial cells." Respiratory Research 20.1 (2019): 1-13.
- Bonilla, Francisco A., and Hans C. Oettgen. "Adaptive immunity." Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 125.2 (2010): S33-S40.
