Compromised Immune Systems

Compromised Immune Systems

    Chronic diseases can wear down the immune system and make people more susceptible to infection. An immune system that is weakened in this way is said to be compromised. 

    Sickle-cell anemia , for instance, causes damage to the spleen . Because the spleen helps protect against bacterial infections, this leaves the body more vulnerable to infections, such as those involving the lungs, bone, and blood. As human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection damages and weakens the immune system, many kinds of infectious diseases that take advantage of a poor immune response can appear. In many cases, prompt diagnosis of such "opportunistic" infections and treatment with combinations of antiviral drugs have been able to slow this process , Certain drugs and therapy regimens also can undermine the work of the immune system. Chemotherapy drugs, a term for several kinds 

   In severe combined immunodeficiency, a person's ability to fight infections is severely impaired. This condition has been dubbed "bubble boy disease" and became widely known during the 1970s with the case of David Vetter, who lived for 12 years sealed in a plastic, germfree environment.

   Visuals Unlimited of drugs that destroy cancer cells, often kill the beneficial white blood cells in the bone marrow as well. Patients who have organ transplants are given high dosages of drugs called corticosteroids to suppress their immune systems and try to keep their bodies from rejecting the transplanted tissue, which typically is recognized as "foreign." 

  Some people's immunity is weakened from the beginning, because they are born with components missing from their immune systems.

   Primary immune deficiencies are genetic conditions that impair the immune system.

Hypogammaglobulinemia, a condition that arises when the body has fewer antibodies than normal, can result in more bacterial respiratory illnesses.

   Agammaglobulinemia, a complete lack of antibodies in the blood, can cause severe, often fatal infections.

Other primary immune disorders include these:

•Severe combined immune deficiency syndrome, in which an infant is born with a significant lack of both B cells and T cells, often leads to serious immunity problems; it occurs in one in a million births. During the first 3 months of life, babies with this condition can experience life-threatening infections and diseases, particularly sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis. Common childhood diseases, such as chicken pox, can easily overwhelm these patients' immune systems.

•Chronic granulomatous  disease occurs in males when the body's phagocytes are ineffective against certain bacteria and fungi.

     

         Patients develop recurrent and unusual skin, lymph node , and other infections Repeated infections can lead to granulomas (gran-yoo-LO-muhs), masses that develop in the skin, lungs, liver , lymph nodes, and bones. They can be slow to heal and drain. 

Sumber : Bpk. Dr. Iskandar Zulkarnain

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