Who has a stronger immune system?

Question

A person who has allergies vs. a person who doesn't. Which one has a stronger immune system?? In A&P class, my instructor said, "allergies is when the bodies immune system detects something in the body that it doesn't like and fights it off (like airborn fungus),and thats what makes you feel sick". So, does this mean the person with allergies really has a stronger immune system???

So does this mean that a person that doesn't have allergies had built up a tolerance through out their childhood?

Answer 1

People with allergies were not exposed to enough dirt and disease when young (Americans are too clean for their children's sake!!!)
So, the immune system looks for other things to attack and that is the body itself. THAT'S what allergies are about.

Your logic would claim, that people with Lupus or MS have a stronger immune system, since it attacks the host, whereas the poor people who don't get attacked by their bodies have a weaker system? Thanks, but I'll stick with my weaker system.... ;-)

Answer 2

Those with allergies have improperly working immune systems (not stronger) and actually become weaker through allergy medication. Allergies misidentify harmless particles and treat them as harmful. Allergies may also cause your body to ignore the real problem invaders by identifying foe as friend. Imagine if you had a computer which improperly identified Microsoft Word documents as viruses and every time it saw a Microsoft Word document, it would not let you open it. To treat this problem, you would need to reduce the level of security for your computer, thus increasing the possibilities of infection from true threats. This is like treating allergies with suppression medications, it weakens resistance to true threats.

Answer 3

What your instructor said is basically correct (very, very oversimplified, but correct). Try not to think of it in terms of strong and weak though, it's more about appropriate and inappropriate. An allergy is a specific type of immune response to an innocuous substance - for instance, grass pollen, something that would not harm you, but the reaction is a nuissance. Having allergies really says nothing either way about the state of your immune system (other than that you have one ^_^)

Answer 4

If the person with allergies had the stronger immune system, why would they be the one getting sick all the time and needing medication?

Answer 5

You can try an immunologist to see if there is something that is causing your immune system to be so weak. Otherwise take a multivitamin daily, take a vitamin c supplement, eat healthy, avoid sick people (duh), wash your hands a lot (especially after using the restroom, sneezing or coughing, and wash for 30 seconds in warm water and scrub vigorously). Also get clorox wipes and get in the habit of cleaning your surroundings more-counter tops, sinks, etc, get lysol spray and spray your home more (like door knobs, toilet, phone, etc -things commonly used that carry germs). If you have a high risk job for germs (school teacher, day care worker, nurse, bank teller, that could put you in contact with a lot of people during the day, especially with sick people. Consider switching jobs (answering phones instead, or working with one kid instead of many?).

Answer 6

No it just means your body is reacting to something. If it is an allergy to seasonal changes, drink alot of water to flush it out of your system, if it is viral or bacterial, boost your immune syatem with things like Vitamin C echinacea, and garlic.

Answer 7

one has a allergic reaction when cells (mast cells, or basophils) which have Fc receptors, that bind IgE. When this bind histamine is released on reexposure, causing an allergic reaction. so the answer to your question is no, just because one gets a strong allergic reaction to something does not mean he or she has a stronger iimmune system. it just means that there body has been exposed to the allergen once before.

Answer 8

person with allergies. They have a more responsive immune system.