Immune System Calculator

“To strengthen the immune system, one must address the needs of the whole body. A strong immune system is essential for health. It is a very complex system of the body, involving the skin, intestines, nasal mucosa, blood, lymph and many other organs and tissues. Factors that impair the immune system include nutrient deficiencies, contaminated air, water and food, unhealthy lifestyles and too much exposure to harmful microbes. Other factors that weaken the immune system are negative attitudes and emotions and the presence of toxic metals, toxic chemicals and biological toxins in the body. Others are sluggish metabolism, lack of rest and sleep, excessive stress or too much exercise. As these causative factors are removed or corrected, the immune system improves.” Dr. Lawrence Wilson

YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM NEEDS WORK IF YOU CHECK TWO OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING:

____1. THREE OR MORE EAR INFECTIONS IN ONE YEAR
____2. TWO OR MORE SINUS INFECTIONS IN ONE YEAR
____3. ORAL ANTIBIOTICS USE MORE THAN TWICE IN ONE YEAR
____4. TWO OR MORE EPISODES OF PNEUMONIA IN ONE YEAR
____5. FAILURE TO THRIVE (CHILDREN)
____6. RECURRING DEEP SKIN OR ORGAN ABCESSES
____7. ORAL OR CUTANEOUS CANDIDIASIS AFTER AGE ONE
____8. HISTORY OF MENINGITIS, OSTEOMYELITIS, CELLULITIS, SEPSIS, OR RECURRENT HERPES ZOSTER
____9. HISTORY OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE, LYMPHADENOPATHY OR SPLENOMEGALY
____10. FAMILY HISTORY OF IMMUNE DEFICIENCY
____11. INCREASE OR SUSEPTABILITY TO INFECTIONS
____12. CANCER
____13. SARS
____14. THRUSH
____15. DIARRHEA
____16. HASIMOTO’S THYROIDITIS
____17. PERNICIOUS ANEMIA
____18. ADDISONS’S DISEASE
____19. DIABETES
____20. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
____21. SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
____22. MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
____23. MYASTHENIA GRAVIS
____24. REITER’S SYNDROME
____25. GRAVES DISEASE
____26. PSORIASIS
____27. ECZEMA
____28. CUSHING’S
____29. FIBROMYALGIA
____30. SCLERODERMA
____31. SJORGREN’S SYNDROME
____32. DERMATOMYOSITIS
____33. LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
____34. STRESS
____35. CRAVE SUGAR OR SWEETS
____36. NEED FOR INTRAVENOUS ANTIBIOTICS TO CLEAR INFECTIONS
____37. LACK OF ENERGY
____38. ILLNESS MORE THAN TWICE A YEAR
____39. DIFFICULTY DIGESTING CERTAIN FOODS
____40. FOOD ALLERGIES
____41. RECENT OF FREQUENT USE OF ANTIBIOTICS
____42. SORE OR PAINFUL JOINTS
____43. DIFFICULTY MAINTAINING IDEAL WEIGHT
____44. SLOW RECOVERY FROM ILLNESS
____45. EXPOSURE TO AIR POLLUTION DAILY
____46. POOR RESISTANCE TO DISEASE
____47. BELCHING OR GAS AFTER MEALS
____48. FEELING OUT OF CONTROL
____49. FOOD/CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES
____50. RECURRENT YEAST/FUNGAL INFECTIONS
____51. CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
____52. ASTHMA
____53. DEPRESSION
____54. SINUSITIS
____55. ACNE
____56. MIGRAINES
____57. ANXIETY
____58. INSOMNIA
____59. HIVES
____60. BOWEL DYSFUNCTION – CHRON’S DISEASE
____61. HEPATITUS B & C
____62. HIV
____63. SHINGLES
____64. TB
____65. ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
____66. LIVER DISEASE
____67. SILVER AMALGAMS
____68. HEAVY METAL TOXICITY
____69. PARASITIC INFECTIONS
____70. BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS
____71. ARTHRITIS
____72. CHEMOTHERAPY
____73. CORTISONE OR PREDNISONE
____74. LYMPHOMAS

TOTAL CHECKED: ______

Why Your Immune System Is Not Healthy:

Our modern living makes it difficult to maintain a healthy immune system. Below are some of the forces that work against it.

POOR NUTRITION Empty calories’ is a term that aptly describes the Standard American Diet (SAD). Even a mild deficiency of iron and selenium can cause suppressed immunity and Americans are usually low in both.

HIGH-FAT DIETS In a 1993 report published in Progressive Food and Nutrition, scientists found that excessive fat intake impairs immunity.

POLLUTION A recent report published in Environmental Pollution and Neuroimmunology stated that the combined influence of various factors (chemical agents, radiation, stress) may lead to immunodeficiency in the form of respiratory and inflammatory disease. Hundreds of studies show that toxic chemicals impair immune defenses.

STRESS Stress releases biochemicals that suppress immune function putting us at higher risk for bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Our emotional landscape impacts immunity. One study reported in a 1997 issue of Psychosomatic Medicine stated that post-traumatic stress suffered after Hurricane Andrew had dramatically reduced killer cells in test subjects. Prolonged stress weakens or impairs immune response, making us vulnerable to infections, auto-immune diseases and even cancer. In a recent study published in a 2000 issue of Psychological Medicine, researchers reported that episodes of serious stress experienced early in life may predispose a woman to breast cancer.

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE and ‘SUPER BUGS’ Once considered miracle drugs, antibiotics are now abused to the point they pose a major health threat worldwide. Bacteria are now outwitting potent antibiotics creating the risk of global infections that won’t respond to the best of the high-tech drugs. In a June 12, 2000 press release the World Health Organization announced that almost all major infectious diseases are slowly becoming resistant to existing medicine.

LOW NATURAL KILLER CELL LEVELS NK (natural killer cells) provide our first line of defense against invaders. A low NK count means a much higher risk of disease and tissue degeneration. Today we are able to measure the number of natural killer cells, and the news is not good. In addition, the constant barrage of free radicals, alcohol, tobacco, dieting, international travel, eating disorders, prescription drug side effects, day care, food additives, aging, lack of sleep, poor digestion and elimination continually weakens our natural immune defenses.” [p. 16]

Reference: Elkins, R. (2002) Miracle Sugars. Pleasant Grove, Utah: Woodland Publishing.