• Question: do substances (like for example alcohol) weaken or affect the immune system? If yes, why?

    Asked by Anjalo to Carmen, Daniel, Laura, Noel, Steph on 11 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Carmen Denman

      Carmen Denman answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Hi Anjalo,

      Great question! I’ll use alcohol as an example (see below) – but other substance like cigarettes will also weaken our bodies immune system and for a number of reasons reduce our ability to fight infection.

      People who abuse alcohol can often suffer from infectious diseases and have increased rates of some cancers, indicating that alcohol impairs the immune system, which normally protects the body against this type of damage. Alcohol interferes with the functions of many of the cells and molecules in our bodies responsible for normal immune cell function. For example, alcohol inhibits the functions of the cells that ingest and destroy invading microorganisms (i.e., neutrophils, monocytes, and macrophages). Both acute (short term) and chronic (long-term) alcohol exposure also alter coordination of the immune response. People who over use alcohol are more at risk for acquiring all sorts of infectious diseases.

    • Photo: Noel Carter

      Noel Carter answered on 11 Mar 2015:

      Alcohol, in particular long term alcohol abuse, appears to stop the antibody driven part of the immune system working correctly.

      Other things also do. There is very good evidence that very high intensity sport suppresses the immune system and elite athlete tend to have a higher susceptibility to infections.

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