Normal and Poor Immune System The immune system comprises from immune cells, like white blood cells, antibodies and other substances that fight against microbes and thus defend us against infections. We may suspect that our immune system is low (poor, weak, deficient) when we suffer from frequent infections (like having influenza several times a year), when infections heal slowly (like common cold lasting a month), when they affect unusual sites (like Candida albicans yeast appearing in the mouth) or infections that usually do not affect people with normal immunity (like Pneumocystis carinii fungus is harmless for healthy people but can cause pneumonia in AIDS patients). People with chronic diseases, like diabetes or cancer, or those exhausted from long lasting hard work, starvation or  psychological stress may also have lowered immunity and therefore frequent infections. Because of stress or disease, an old herpetic infection may re-activate and appear as oral herpes (itchy blisters around the mouth), genital herpes (on genital mucosa) or shingles (rash in a band-like distribution, affecting one side of the trunk, limbs or face). When we know exact substance, like chemotherapy drugs or steroids, which causes low immunity, we say that immune system is suppressed or compromised. A term immune deficiency is usually reserved for severely weakened immunity, which may be temporary, like most of acquired immune … Continue reading Low, Poor, Weak, Suppressed Immune System, Immune Deficiency