How to improve immunity in an elderly person at home

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Immunity in an elderly person undergoes age-related changes. Therefore, you need to know how to quickly and effectively increase the body's natural resistance at home.

Top 5 Ways to Stimulate the Immune System

Immunity is a natural barrier exposed by the body to pathogenic agents. The list of ways how to increase it comes down to taking expensive dietary supplements (often of dubious origin) and immunostimulants.

An elderly person often simply cannot afford the purchase of bottles with capsules and tablets. In addition, self-administration can lead to unwanted side effects, especially if the body already has age-related changes or chronic pathologies.

The global pandemic COVID-19 is a danger in which people with reduced resistance are at the first risk group. For this reason, the elderly should be in self-isolation.

There are five main directions that will help to make the immune system work, even weakened or subject to age-related degradation:

1. Balanced nutrition, when the diet contains vitamins, minerals and trace elements necessary for the full functioning of the organs of the immune system of the bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen and thymus. It is they who are responsible for the formation and maturation of all types of immunocytes, provided for in the mechanism of protection laid down by nature against external and internal aggressors.
2. Controlling emotions, more precisely, the level of stress. Negative experiences, conflicts, fear of getting sick, inability to do the same things - all this leads to the production of cortisol. This is a specific hormone that inhibits the activity of the immune system until the potential for its production disappears.
3. Adequate sleep. It is only useful at night. The human biological clock is at the genetic level. It is during a night's sleep that the damaged cells are regenerated, the normal functioning of the systems is restored and the level of stress is reduced.
4. Daytime physical activity. It should not be confused with household chores - cooking, cleaning. We are talking about exercises that restore normal blood circulation, make muscles and internal organs work. Morning exercises, breathing exercises, exercise complexes for problem organs are simple ways to increase the immunity of an elderly person at home. If you do them in the room after airing it or on the balcony, the efficiency increases.
5. And one more condition is the need to stop drinking alcohol. No red wine, alcohol infusions, or pre-dinner glasses. Scientific studies have shown that part of the cells that are produced to protect against the rapid penetration of viruses and infections into the human body is spent on removing toxic ethanol compounds from it.

Diet recommendations

In old age, you need to carefully monitor that the diet is not monotonous. Food should contain components necessary for the full activity of the body, which do not damage the digestive system and do not exert an increased load on it.

For elderly people who want to improve immunity, it is recommended to use uniformly:

• meat - lean beef, veal and poultry - chicken, turkey, quail;
• fish - herring, salmon, mackerel, hake in boiled or stewed form;
• legumes - peas, lentils, beans, chickpeas;
• whole grain cereals;
• fresh fruits and vegetables.

Pay special attention to the presence in the diet of fresh cabbage of any kind, currants, raspberries, cranberries and sea buckthorn, fermented milk products. Sweet peppers, carrots and tomatoes, walnuts are considered useful for the immune system. It is worth using beef liver, heart.

It is also worth including spices in the diet: cloves, cinnamon, turmeric. There are onions and garlic, fresh herbs. Of course, if a person has chronic pathologies that do not allow eating some fresh vegetables and fruits, they can be processed - baked, boiled compotes and fruit drinks.

Adaptogens as an additional way

In a difficult period, additional methods can be used, which are forgotten to be mentioned in the recommendations on how to increase the immunity of an elderly person. They can be used at home only after consulting a doctor.

Adaptogens are natural stimulants that have a general stimulating effect on the psychoemotional state, metabolic processes, and human immunity. If the specialist does not find contraindications, you can take Eleutherococcus, Chinese magnolia vine, Zamaniha or Rhodiola rosea.

If you work in all directions, and not swallow pills and lie on the couch indulging in total despondency, you can make sure that the weakened immune system begins to recover. And this will be felt in the return of vitality, healthy appetite, good mood and improved well-being.

Now, when the coronavirus is still spreading around the world, the body's natural ability to prevent an aggressive pathogen from entering an open system is becoming the primary factor of survival. But its normal state should be taken care of not only in extreme situations.

Summarize

1. Even an elderly person can improve immunity at home using a comprehensive method.
2. A balanced, nutritious and healthy diet is important.
3. Proper sleep is required (at night, the prescribed number of hours).
4. Be sure to exclude negative experiences and stressful situations.
5. Physical activity is required - exercise complexes, exercises, breathing exercises.