Maggie ONeill

We casually reference our nervous systems all the time—it’s highly likely that, at some point, you’ve used expressions like, “My nerves are shot,” or, “That’s getting on my nerves.” Even these little figures of speech can reflect how, in frustrating situations, you might be tempted to blame your nerves for acting up—or stress out about how to calm them down. But your sympathetic nervous system itself, which is the part of your overall autonomic nervous system that’s responsible for reacting to stress or perceived danger, isn’t actually always at fault when you feel on edge! In fact, your sympathetic nervous system shouldn’t kick into high gear over every little annoying thing.1 Really, it should only be sending warning signals to your body if a significant threat to your well-being is present—for instance, if you’re hiking and you encounter a bear, Thea Gallagher, PsyD, a psychologist at NYU Langone, tells SELF.Sometimes, your body does misinterpret uncomfortable situations—like an intense work meeting, a confrontation with a friend, or even something that makes you feel put on the spot or self-conscious like public speaking—as actual physical threats. This can trigger the sympathetic nervous system and send your body into fight-or-flight mode. “Dysregulation of the nervous system happens when you’re in fight-or-flight response” more often than you should be, Susan Albers-Bowling, PsyD, a psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. This dysregulation can occur when your body doesn’t respond to stress appropriately, and it can take a major toll: Research suggests chronic stress can cause depression, anxiety, heart disease, and even cognitive impairment.2When your sympathetic nervous system is active, it causes symptoms that range from a little irritating to more serious, per the Cleveland Clinic. They can include rapid heart rate and breathing; dilated pupils; trembling; increased blood pressure; and even changes to skin tone, as blood flow to the surface of the body is decreased (so that blood flow to muscles, legs, arms, and the brain can be increased). “It can be really hard to live our lives when our nervous system is [frequently] activated,” Dr. Gallagher says. “[People sometimes think] it’s all in your head. But it’s not in your head, it’s in your body.”No matter what kicks your nervous system into overdrive—whether that’s going on a first date for the first time in years, scheduling important screenings like mammograms, or walking into a job interview—you can familiarize yourself with how to calm down and reassure your body that it’s not really under attack in certain intense situations—especially if you know what typically stresses you out. Below, experts explain techniques for how to calm your nerves that may improve your mental health.1. Do four rounds of the 4-7-8 deep breathing technique.Since fight-or-flight mode can cause quick, shallow breaths, try breathing exercises when you need to slow things down, Dr. Gallagher says.A good technique is the 4-7-8 method, Dr. Albers-Bowling says. To try this, find a place where you can sit with your back straight and place the tip of your tongue against the tissue behind your upper front teeth (it should stay here throughout the exercise). Then, exhale completely (through the mouth) to make a whoosh sound. Close your mouth and inhale through the nose for four counts, hold your breath for seven counts, then exhale completely through the mouth (making another whoosh sound) for eight counts. Do this at least four times to reset your breathing and help your body calm back down, Dr. Albers-Bowling recommends. (If you try the 4-7-8 technique and it isn’t for you, consider a different practice from our guide to popular deep breathing exercises.)2. Put on your favorite song—and sing along.The vagus nerve runs from your brain to your intestines and plays a pretty important role in regulating your body’s everyday functions: Among other things, it impacts your heart rate, digestion, speech, and mood.3

Among the most heartbreaking aspects of Monday’s mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee—which left three children and three adults dead—was the familiarity of it. Watching the news unfold, I was reminded of the day, less than a year ago, when 21 people were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The updates that popped up on my phone screen caused the same mix of fear and rage to take over my thoughts.Because of the regularity of gun violence in the US, some health authorities, including the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), refer to it as an “epidemic”—and for good reason: Nearly 50,000 people in the US died of gun violence in 2021, the latest year for which data is available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Tragically, gun violence takes a massive toll on America’s young people. According to data from Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for sensible gun laws, 4.6 million children live in homes where at least one gun is loaded and unlocked; approximately 3 million children witness gun violence each year; and the firearm suicide rate among children has skyrocketed by 66% within the last decade.However alarming these stats might sound to those of us who don’t work with children, they are figures that America’s pediatricians are all too aware of. “Like almost every pediatrician I know, I’m despondent and want action,” Scott Hadland, MD, chief of adolescent medicine at Mass General Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, tells SELF. Lois Lee, MD, a senior associate in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, echoes this feeling. “As a doctor—especially one who takes care of kids—I feel both devastated and angered,” Dr. Lee tells SELF.Below, they weigh in on three consequences of America’s gun violence epidemic for children—and how these may continue to play out until sensible gun laws are passed.Mass shootings leave long-lasting wounds, both physically and emotionally.Gun violence is a unique public health problem in the way that it affects—and traumatizes—everyone, not just those who are harmed or killed by firearms, explains Dr. Lee, who authored the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) policy statement on gun violence. “Firearm deaths leave lasting emotional scars on families and communities in ways other diseases don’t,” she says.Among other things, people who survive school shootings can experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress disorder, depression, substance use disorders, and debilitating anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).There’s no telling when—or even if—these will ease as a child who’s experienced gun violence grows older, Dr. Hadland says: “I care for patients who were shot as children, but survived, and [they] live with lifelong injuries and emotional trauma.”In the US, more children are dying by homicide and suicide.Since 2017, guns have been responsible for more deaths among children than anything else, according to the AAP policy statement. Before that, car accidents were the leading cause. (For context: In 2021, gun violence killed more children than cancer and poisonings combined, according to Everytown.)

Conversations around menopause have often been swept under the rug or discussed in hushed tones—which is why a number of celebrities are now speaking about what, specifically, menopause looked like for them. CBS This Morning host Gayle King and actor Drew Barrymore talked about their experiences with perimenopause by sharing the first symptoms they noticed in a new segment aired on Wednesday.A little refresher: Perimenopause (which translates to “around menopause”) simply refers to the time menopause starts, and it can strike at different ages. It can start during a person’s 30s, but most people experience it from ages 40 to 44, according to the Mount Sinai Health System.Barrymore, now 48, said this transition changed the frequency of her periods. “I realized that I was in perimenopause when I started having my period every two weeks,” she said. When King, now 68, asked if she was having a heavy flow, Barrymore said, “Yes, like a teenager.”This was the telltale sign for King. “I went to the doctor because—not to get too graphic—but it looked like a crime scene,” she said. She also said she experienced hot flashes. As King explained, “It feels like you’re burning inside. It just feels hot, for me it was just a physical heat. Then you can sometimes have dripping, drenching sweats.” She joked that you can’t control when and where a hot flash will strike. “It can happen at the most inopportune times,” King said. “I’ve been on the red carpet where a photographer will say, ‘Gayle, are you okay?’ I go, ‘It’s just a hot flash,’ and they say, ‘Sorry, sorry, sorry.’ It’s like they’ve said something very bad about you.”This is part of the reason King and Barrymore are trying to start more discussions about what menopause actually feels like. “I’m just glad we’re having this conversation because I didn’t even know the phrase perimenopause [when it started for me],” King said.The pair also talked about the importance of educating all children—not just little girls—about natural bodily processes. “I don’t want little boys going, ‘Ew,’ [when they hear about menopause],” King said. “I don’t want that because it is something we go through. And it’s just male and female—there are differences, and those differences are okay.”Related:

Ed Sheeran revealed he struggles with disordered eating in a new interview from Rolling Stone published Tuesday. The 32-year-old singer and songwriter also denounced the stigma associated with eating disorders among men.“I have a real eating problem,” he told Rolling Stone. Sheeran explained that, like his mentor Elton John, he’s had issues with binge eating and purging, and added that it’s been difficult to speak about these problems because of the shame associated with them. “There’s certain things that, as a man talking about them, I feel mad uncomfortable,” Sheeran said. But this is one of the reasons he’s choosing to share his story, he added: “It’s good to be honest…because so many [men] do the same thing and hide it.”This stigma is fueled by outdated ideas about who can—and can’t—have an eating disorder, Kimberly Dennis, MD, a member of the Clinical Advisory Council at the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), tells SELF. “It’s been a pretty persistent, long-held myth that [eating disorders] are diseases that impact skinny white girls,” Dr. Dennis says. “That harms large portions of the population, [including] men.” According to data from NEDA, about one-third of all people with eating disorders are men.Because most of the messaging around eating disorder warning signs has traditionally been focused on women, many men don’t understand that they’re susceptible to these diseases, Dr. Dennis adds. Often, when they start to experience symptoms, “The men themselves don’t know it’s a disorder,” she explains. “They often feel shame about it because they think, This is a women’s disease. Why am I experiencing this?”Even men who know they have a problem may be less likely to try to get help, she adds. “Because of the concepts of toxic masculinity, the cultural norms of what a man is—a lot of that messaging and the psychosocial aspects of being a man in our culture can interfere with a man seeking eating disorder treatment,” Dr. Dennis says. Research has shown men are less likely than women to receive a mental health–related diagnosis, and traditionally masculine social expectations may be to blame.  Even some men who turn to their doctors for help may not get the care they need, she adds: “This a myth that pervades most medical specialties, and primary care doctors get very little training in eating disorder [protocols], so unless it’s more of an extreme case, they often miss the diagnosis.”This is especially troubling, given the huge toll an untreated eating disorder can take on a person’s overall health and well-being, says Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD, founder of Alissa Rumsey Nutrition and Wellness and the author of Unapologetic Eating. She adds that among all mental illnesses, eating disorders are the second deadliest, second only to opioid use disorder. “Untreated eating disorders can go on for years, if not decades, and contribute to physical and mental health issues,” she tells SELF.It’s crucial to change the narrative and make sure men know they, too, can experience eating disorders, Dr. Dennis says. All institutions that provide information on these conditions need to take this into account, she adds: “The messaging that starts very early on in most school settings needs to center that men have eating disorders, too, and treatment settings need to intentionally address the unique needs of men” with eating disorders. This means identifying that many men grow up hearing that they shouldn’t—or can’t—struggle with an eating disorder, acknowledging that this is incorrect, and helping them find a treatment option that works best for them, she adds. According to the Mayo Clinic, useful interventions could include taking medication, working with a therapist, or working with a registered dietitian.It’s also important for men who have firsthand experience to share their stories—like Sheeran did—when they feel comfortable doing so, Dr. Dennis adds. “It’s always helpful when men speak about having an eating disorder or having recovered from an eating disorder. When we don’t [highlight these stories], men internalize the idea that I shouldn’t have this,” she explains. “That propels shame and interferes with people getting help. And help works.”If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, you can find support and resources from the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA). If you are in a crisis, you can text “NEDA” to 741741 to be connected with a trained volunteer at the Crisis Text Line for immediate support.Related:

During cold and flu season, it can be difficult to figure out what’s wrong if you start to feel sick. There’s a lot of overlap among the warning signs of illnesses that spike during fall, winter, and even early spring, like the common cold, COVID-19, influenza, and strep throat.If you or someone you’re caring for has strep, chances are the throat pain will be more intense than that of common viral illnesses—even including COVID-19, Cory Fisher, DO, a family medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. Though it’s very pronounced, a sore throat isn’t the only symptom that strep can cause: The infection, which occurs when bacteria known as group A Streptococcus infect the throat and tonsils, can also cause fever; pain when swallowing; red and swollen tonsils; white patches or streaks of pus on the tonsils; swollen lymph nodes in the front of the neck; and tiny, red spots on the roof of the mouth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).All of this is to say: You’re likely going to feel pretty run down for a few days if you have strep throat, which spreads through the respiratory droplets of, or direct contact with, an infected person. While leaving your house to trek to the doctor’s office might be the last thing you feel like doing, it’s really important to seek medical care if you think you have strep throat.Not everyone needs to take medication for strep throat, per the CDC. Specifically, “carriers” of the bacteria—or people who test positive, but don’t have any symptoms—usually won’t need treatment. But if you’re symptomatic and you test positive for strep, your doctor is probably going to recommend a treatment plan that includes antibiotics.A recent warning from the CDC about an uptick in invasive group A strep (iGAS) cases in children means you should also monitor any kids in your life for strep throat symptoms if they’re sick. Act quickly if you think they’ve been infected, since iGAS can be life-threatening for children in some cases, as SELF previously reported.Below, experts answer questions about strep throat treatment options, and why it’s truly a bad idea to try to “ride it out” without seeing a doctor.How to get rid of strep throatIf you think you have strep throat, you should make an appointment with a primary care provider so they can test you for the infection ASAP, Waleed Javaid, MD, epidemiologist and director of Infection Prevention and Control at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York, tells SELF. If you don’t have a go-to primary care provider or have trouble making a last-minute appointment, you should go to a local urgent care center to be tested.The gold standard for treating strep throat is a course of oral antibiotics, Dr. Javaid says. This will help control the infection and minimize the risks of potential complications, which aren’t anything you want to mess with: An untreated strep infection can lead to scarlet fever; inflammation of the kidney; rheumatic fever; a condition called poststreptococcal reactive arthritis, which causes inflammation of the joints; sinus or ear infections; as well as the development of abscesses (pockets of pus) around the tonsils or neck. In severe cases—when the infection causes invasive disease (iGAS)—the bacteria can spread to the skin or bloodstream. However, these complications are rare: Out of millions of strep infections each year, only 14,000 to 25,000 are classified as iGAS cases, per the CDC.

Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would outlaw certain conversations about health and wellness for children in fifth grade and below, including discussions about periods. Constituents recently found out just how alarmingly restrictive it could be.A viral video of Florida state representatives discussing House Bill 1069—which would limit all instruction around sex to grades 6 through 12—was taken last Wednesday and shows Representative Ashley Gantt asking Representative Stan McClain, a proponent of the bill, about what it would mean, realistically, for teachers and students.“Does the bill prohibit conversations about menstrual cycles? Because we know that typically [menstruation begins] between 10 and 15. So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in fifth grade or fourth grade, will that prohibit conversations for them, since they are in a grade lower than sixth grade?” Gantt asks. McClain replies, “It would.”Restricting conversations around menstruation, a normal bodily process, would be incredibly damaging, especially now: Post-Roe, parents, educators, health care workers, and others who work with children and young adults should be overcommunicating about the function of menstruation, Taraneh Shirazian, MD, a board-certified ob-gyn at NYU Langone, tells SELF. “Menstruation is a normal biologic change, and girls and boys should understand it,” she says. “[If you censor conversations around it], you’re going to set up a big problem for young [people] around the issues of pregnancy and family planning.”As Gantt pointed out, simplifying menstruation to a process that’s supposed to start during or after sixth grade will automatically isolate people for whom it starts earlier. “The nine-year-old [who gets their first period] is going to feel stigmatized and alone going to school,” Dr. Shirazian says. And many people start menstruating before sixth grade (at which point students are usually 11 to 12 years old). According to data from the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC), up to 10% of girls in the US begin to get their periods by age 10.Regardless of age, implementing this law would send the message that girls’ bodies are unspeakable—which will likely have long-term consequences, Jennifer Lincoln, MD, a board-certified ob-gyn and executive director of Mayday Health, a health education nonprofit, tells SELF. “Banning educators from discussing normal and physiological processes like menstruation enrages me as an ob-gyn. We are basically telling menstruators that we can’t talk about what’s happening to their bodies, which implies that it is shameful, dirty, and unnatural,” Dr. Lincoln says. “This sets the stage for a lot of misunderstanding and psychological trauma that will need to be undone. How these legislators sleep at night is incomprehensible to me.”House Bill 1069 would indirectly teach school-age girls that their bodies are somehow controversial when compared with boys’ bodies, Dr. Shirazian explains: “Once you start to set up that dichotomy, we can’t empower girls.” In some parts of the world, this stigmatization comes at a huge cost, she adds: “Globally, some girls are not going to school” because of societal shame attached to starting their periods.

It’s pretty common to have dense breasts, which means that you have more of certain kinds of tissue in your boobs than other kinds. For around 40% of people with breasts, the majority of their breast tissue is dense.Doctors can tell if a person has dense breasts by looking at their mammogram results—and this is important information to have, since people with dense breasts may need additional breast cancer screenings other than mammograms.Until last week, facilities that offer mammograms, like hospitals or ob-gyn practices, weren’t all required to let people know if they have dense breasts. Some—but not all—states had laws that providers needed to be able to let people know about this, but the actual notification process from facilities that perform mammograms to doctors and/or patients has looked different across the country.Now the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is changing that: It’s giving all mammography-providing facilities 18 months to comply with a new requirement to notify people if their mammogram shows they have dense breasts. “This is intended to help ensure important information that could affect decisions about patient care, such as the potential need for further evaluation or a repeat mammogram, is communicated as completely as possible,” the agency said in a statement released March 9.This change will hopefully lead to more breast cancer detection and early intervention in states that haven’t had to let people know about their dense breasts, Elisa Port, MD, a surgical oncologist at the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai in New York, tells SELF. It may also improve the notification process in some states.“There’s no consistency from state to state,” Dr. Port says. In some states, she adds, only the provider is notified when a person’s mammogram shows dense breast tissue—which leaves the patient out of the conversation about what to do next, if anything.In terms of what this will look like in practice, Dr. Port says, “a paragraph included in the [mammogram] report will state that your breasts are not dense or that your breasts are dense, and you can talk to your provider about what this means.”Since the new requirement won’t take effect overnight, if you have a mammogram during the FDA’s proposed 18-month time frame and your provider doesn’t mention anything about whether your breasts are dense, you should bring it up yourself. Dr. Port says that a good way to start this conversation is to simply ask, “What does my report say about my breast density?”Not everyone with dense breast tissue will need extra breast cancer screenings, but they will be recommended for some, Dr. Port says. For example, a doctor may order follow-up tests if their patient has very dense breasts (we’ll get into this below!) and a history of breast cancer in their family. Regardless of what the information leads to, knowing that you have dense breast tissue is “one more data point” on your health that you can factor into future decisions about which breast cancer screenings are right for you and how often you should get them, Dr. Port says.

What’s different about the current outbreak, according to Thainá Landim de Barros, PhD, a poultry health extension specialist at The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, is that warmer months haven’t slowed the spread, like they did in the summer of 2015. Unfortunately, she tells SELF, the current outbreak hasn’t followed the trajectory of the 2014–2015 outbreak—rather than getting back to normal, cases continued to spread over the summer last year.Should we be worried about bird flu eventually spreading to humans?In rare cases, people in contact with avian flu–infected birds do get the virus. A few months after the H5N1 virus was identified in the US last April, a person with “direct exposure to poultry” who was exposed to infected birds tested positive for the virus, per the CDC. But since December 2021, fewer than 10 people globally have contracted the virus, the agency says. Historically, people with the virus have experienced a range of reactions: Some have had no symptoms, and others had mild illnesses (such as an eye infection or upper respiratory symptoms). In a few cases, the virus has caused severe disease, like pneumonia and death. We don’t fully know the circumstances surrounding the people who have died during the current outbreak (and whether they had any underlying health conditions that could have made them more vulnerable).People who work with poultry can contract the virus through prolonged contact with an infected bird; if they inhale a bird’s mucus, saliva, or poop; or if any of those things get into their eyes, nose, or mouth. Thankfully, bird flu isn’t transmitted through cooked food, so you don’t need to worry about contracting the illness through groceries you pick up at the store. “The food safety risk doesn’t exist,” Dr. Landim de Barros says.While bird-to-human cases are rare, researchers are closely monitoring the outbreak’s potential threat to humans based on transmission from mammals. If researchers were to find proof of animal-to-human or human-to-human transmission, the response could look similar to that which occurred when COVID-19 started spreading, Dr. Russo says. This may include policies that slow the spread of illness and a wide-scale vaccination campaign.What’s being done to stop the spread—and do we know when the outbreak will end?The White House recently announced it’s considering plans to vaccinate millions of chickens against bird flu. Per The New York Times, agricultural officials have started testing vaccines and discussing potential immunization plans with poultry industry leaders.In the meantime, global health authorities are working together to keep a close eye on the virus. “There are a lot of international organizations that keep assessing the risk for public health, and right now the risk is still considered low,” Dr. Landim de Barros explains. “All countries can keep their surveillance programs [up-to-date]” and promptly notify other countries when an outbreak occurs, she says. In the US, the USDA monitors bird flu by testing samples from wild bird populations. Commercial farmers also have to keep a close eye on their flocks and report cases of avian flu to a local veterinarian’s office or agricultural agent, or the USDA itself. (Farmers and other people who work with wildlife can tell if a bird is sick by swabbing the animal’s throat or sending a fecal sample for analysis.)The CDC recommends that people who work with poultry wear protective equipment, like masks, gloves, and safety goggles.Unfortunately, there’s simply no way to tell when the current outbreak among poultry will end. But it’s essential, Dr. Landim de Barros says, to keep the news of the current outbreak in perspective. Given what we’ve all been through throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be easy to spiral when you see scary headlines—but there’s truly no need to at the moment. “It’s important to tell people not to panic,” she explains. “We have so many news [stories] every day, but it’s important [to know] our parties are doing everything they can to pay attention to what is happening.”Related:

Pharmaceutical companies and health authorities are pushing to get respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines approved and ready for distribution. There’s a good reason behind this sense of urgency: The virus surged through the US and  overwhelmed hospitals in recent months, as SELF previously reported. Even in normal years, RSV is very common—and most people are infected with it during childhood: It typically causes more than 60 million illnesses worldwide annually, per the Cleveland Clinic, and usually peaks in the winter cold and flu season. The virus is very contagious, and it primarily spreads through contact with an infected person—for instance, people with RSV can spread it by coughing or sneezing. You can also contract RSV by touching a surface that has the virus on it, such as a doorknob, then putting unwashed hands on your face.RSV can cause symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and fever. In most cases, the virus is mild, but for people in certain age groups—or with certain medical conditions—RSV can be worse than just a bad cold. Each year, these infections cause up to 10,000 deaths in people 65 and older, as well as up to 300 deaths in children younger than five, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Obviously, a safe and effective vaccine would be great news—particularly for our loved ones who have a higher chance of having more serious cases of the virus. Below, experts explain when a shot could be available.Which RSV vaccines are closest to approval?Two pharmaceutical companies—Pfizer and GSK—have submitted their respective RSV vaccines for older adults to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval, and an advisory committee to the agency recently voted on the safety and efficacy of each vaccine. On February 28, the Pfizer vaccine got seven votes for and four against safety and the same count for effectiveness; on March 1, the GSK vaccine got 10 votes for and two against safety and a unanimous (12 to zero) vote on effectiveness. GSK and Pfizer aren’t the only two companies working on vaccines: In total, 11 RSV vaccines are being studied in clinical trials right now, per NBC News, including one from Moderna. Aside from the vaccines from GSK and Pfizer, shots from Janssen and Bavarian Nordic are furthest along in the development process. As of October, they were in the final phases of human clinical trials, according to reporting from CNN.When might the first RSV vaccine become available?Unfortunately, the fact that the advisory committee voted on the GSK and Pfizer vaccines doesn’t mean they’re right around the corner. Expecting the shots to be ready for the 2023–2024 cold and flu season may be a long shot, but it’s not unrealistic to predict they’ll be available for the following flu season, Frank Esper, MD, a pediatric infectious disease physician at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF.One reason RSV vaccines probably won’t be available ASAP: They still have to clear some regulatory hurdles. From here, the FDA has to decide if it agrees with the committee’s recommendations and, if so, issue final approval, Thomas Russo, MD, an infectious disease expert at the University of Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, tells SELF. The agency’s decisions about both the GSK and Pfizer vaccines are expected in May. Then, a separate advisory committee to the CDC has to review the vaccines. Ultimately, whether or not they’re recommended to the public will come down to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, Dr. Russo says.

You’ve probably heard a lot about how important your immune system is, especially over the past few years. Phrases like “herd immunity” and “immunocompromised” proliferated in official public health updates, news stories, and health care centers as experts navigated all the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, we know that the virus can affect anyone, but it can lead to particularly risky complications for the most vulnerable people in our communities.1Of course, the immune system’s job is to protect your body from all invaders that may be harmful, not just certain viruses: When functioning properly, it alerts your body to a wide range of potential threats and helps it respond accordingly. However, some people have dysfunctional immune systems—which are also known as weakened or compromised immune systems—that cause their bodies’ protective response to be under- or overactive, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.There’s no exact figure for how many people live with weakened immune systems, but it’s safe to say it’s in the millions, Leonard Calabrese, DO, a rheumatologic and immunologic disease expert at the Cleveland Clinic, tells SELF. Some research suggests at least 7 million adults in the United States are immunocompromised, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Below, experts explain the factors that can break down the immune system’s defenses, the common symptoms associated with compromised immune systems, and what kinds of treatments are available to help.What is a weakened immune system, exactly?Your immune system is an intricate network of cells, tissues, and organs (as well as the substances they make) that, generally speaking, fight disease and infection, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). White blood cells may come to mind, but there are lots of body parts that play important roles in your immune health, like your skin, lymph nodes and vessels, thymus gland (which makes white blood vessels), spleen, tonsils, and bone marrow, among others.The immune system is generally broken down into two parts, Scott Weisenberg, MD, an infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone Health, tells SELF. These are called the innate (or inherited) and the adaptive (or acquired) immune systems. The major difference between the two is that you’re born with the former, and your body develops the latter.2 The innate immune system is the first to respond to an invader—such as a harmful germ—by surrounding it with protective cells and, if all goes as planned, killing it. The adaptive immune system supports your innate response by producing proteins called antibodies.2 These are designed to counter a specific threat, like certain viruses or bacteria, should your body be exposed to them and need backup in the future, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.Problems can occur when the immune system either doesn’t respond enough or responds too strongly, Dr. Calabrese says. “A compromised immune system fails to either detect danger or [reacts] aggressively and causes collateral damage to our systems,” he explains.3It’s worth noting that problems with the immune system exist on a spectrum, Dr. Calabrese adds. The potential health risks posed by a weakened immune system aren’t the same if you’re comparing one person who, for example, has moderate allergies, to someone who’d recently had an organ transplant. “They’re hardly in the same category,” Dr. Calabrese says.Back to topWhat causes a weakened immune system?Any number of health issues, such as mild asthma, can affect your body’s ability to fight disease and infection—and certain lifestyle factors, like smoking tobacco and not getting enough sleep, can also interfere with your body’s ability to stay balanced and heal, the CDC says. However, there are several major factors that can compromise your immune system’s defenses. These include:Autoimmune diseasesAutoimmune diseases are characterized by a malfunctioning immune response; essentially, your body goes a bit rogue and starts to attack its healthy cells, tissues, and organs, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). There are more than 80 autoimmune diseases that experts know of, including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, and many more; these conditions are thought to impact at least 24 million people in the United States, while an additional 8 million are estimated to have blood markers that point to their susceptibility of developing one of these disorders, per the NIH.