The ongoing medical challenge
of immunodeficiency
Immunodeficiency is a
relatively complex issue that simultaneously challenges and unites medical
professionals from all around the world, as they seek answers for global, health
concerns. Immunodeficiency surfaces in different kinds of health-related
scenarios. In order to understand the various kinds of chronic conditions and
diseases caused by immunodeficiency, it is important to understand where the
problem of immunodeficiency lies and what is actually happening to the human
body.
What is immunodeficiency?
The immune system protects the
human body from infection. It has an important role in healing the human body, when it has become infected. When there is a problem with the immune system,
immunodeficiency results.
Immunodeficiency is more
commonly referred to as immune deficiency. In other words, for various reasons,
the human body's immune system is deficient and thus, not able to resist or
fight off infectious diseases, as the immune system either becomes compromised
or is absent. (1)
Are there different kinds of
immunodeficiency?
Yes. Understanding the chronic
conditions and diseases related to immunodeficiency is easier, when one
distinguishes between the two different kinds of immune deficiency. The first
is primary immune deficiency and the second is acquired immune deficiency. (2)
This is either something one
inherits or is born with, as opposed to what is acquired throughout one's lifetime.
What is primary immune
deficiency?
When a person is born with an
immune deficiency or a defect in the immune system, it is a primary
immunodeficiency or primary immune deficiency. (3)
There are approximately 80
primary immunodeficiencies that may be rare diseases that render a person more
susceptible to infections from childhood onward. These are hereditary,
autosomal recessive or X-linked.
Their grouping is located in the part of the
immune system that is malfunctioning, such as the lymphocytes or granulocytes.
Primary immunodeficiencies are generally treated by antibody infusions, long
term antibiotics and stem cell transplantation. (4)
What is acquired
immunodeficiency?
Acquired immunodeficiency is a
secondary immunodeficiency. This is usually related to malnutrition, aging or
medication and can include different kinds of health problems, that arise from
the administration of chemotherapy, anti-rheumatic drugs, immunosuppressive
drugs following transplants or glucocorticoids. (5)
Some of these conditions are
closely linked to a person's diet.
Other immunodeficiencies occur with aging,
as the immune system gradually declines in term of being able to fight off
different disease processes.
Suppression of the immune
system can result from the administration of drugs or medication. This may be
intentional suppression through the administration of medication, particularly
when a person has had a transplant and the immune system would probably reject
the transplant otherwise. Other immune deficiencies result when a drug has to
be administered, over long periods of time.
There are disease processes
that impair the immune system and cause it to malfunction or shut down
completely. This can happen in various kinds of cancer that involve the bone
marrow and blood cells, like leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and chronic
infections. AIDS is another example of an acquired immunodeficiency. AIDS
(acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is caused by the human immunodeficiency
virus. Here, the virus (HIV) attacks the T helper cells and impairs the immune
system. (6)
It is understood that AIDs
originated in west-central Africa , possibly as
early as the late nineteenth century, but the virus (HIV) was not identified as
the cause of AIDS, until the 1980s. Infection by the AIDS virus (HIV)
compromises vital organs in the immune system. The seriousness of AIDS/HIV
should not be underestimated, as the spread of AIDS has already been declared a
pandemic caused by the HIV virus by the World Health Organization. This serious
disease is still being spread all over the world, by mucous membrane or blood
contact with bodily fluids that contain the virus (HIV). (7)
The virus (HIV) may be
transmitted through bodily fluids like blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-seminal
fluid and breast milk. It can also be spread through sexual contact, blood
transfusions, the use of hypodermic needles or it may be transmitted between
mothers and infants. (8)
While primary
immunodeficiencies can be inherited and are not something that medical
professionals can always predict or control, increased research and
technological advances, show promise of possible resolution for many of these
kinds of medical problems, particularly through the ongoing study of genetics.
Secondary immunodeficiencies
may prove to be preventable and resolvable, at least to some extent. In a
medical situation like AIDs/HIV, prevention entails increased public awareness
and ongoing health education, to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Can AIDS be eradicated
entirely?
That is a goal that medical professionals everywhere are striving
towards. The current H1N1 virus pandemic
suggests that the immune system is affected by this virus. This is a serious
heath concern at this time, because it is spreading rapidly and affecting
people who are relatively young.
Chronic conditions and diseases
caused by immunodeficiency will continue to be an ongoing medical challenge.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS
(8) Ibid.
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