
Ask HN: Why don't we try to boost the immune system? - yehosef
The world is rushing the develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, spending billions of dollars in the process.  This is for a virus that is dangerous or deadly to some people, mostly older but also younger.  Many people&#x27;s immune system (IS) is able to beat down the virus so effectively they are asymptomatic - the don&#x27;t even know they have the disease.<p>Does anyone else find it strange that there is virtually no discussion or promotion by the health authorities (that I&#x27;ve heard) to boost the immune system.  At the end of the day, it&#x27;s the body&#x27;s immune system that will fight the virus and the vaccines are just try to teach it how to fight it (ala the Matrix - &quot;Whoa - I know Kung Fu&quot;)<p>Vitamins A, B, C, and D, in addition to some micronutrients like Selenium and Zinc, are all known to boost immune function (for medical references just google &quot;Vitamin {X} immune system&quot; - there are plenty).<p>Wouldn&#x27;t it make sense to recommend to people to supplement with safe dosages and, if possible, get blood work to see if there is a more serious deficiency which would call for higher doses?<p>Am I missing something?
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poormystic
Hi :) yes I think that you probably are missing something. All the immune
system helpers you've mentioned mighf very well work just as advertised, but
that doesn't mean that the combined effect of several immune system boosters
will be the expected sum of the individual effects. Things interact, and
stimulating the immune system is not best done through special dietary
regimes. The best way to enhance the workings of the immune system is to
laugh, to find wonder in the world around you and to wonder at Love. Make
others happy, play music, spend quiet time.:)

~~~
yehosef
>The best way to enhance the workings of the immune system is to laugh, to
find wonder in the world around you and to wonder at Love. Make others happy,
play music, spend quiet time.:)

Is there any science to back that up? I'm not saying these things are not
helpful, but to say that "the best way" doesn't involved dealing with
essential vitamin deficiencies, seems a little anti-science.

Also - I'm not suggesting that these chemicals are magical fairies that help
just by eating them - if you are not deficient, it probably won't help to take
more (with the exception of Vit C which is given in high-doses via IV to help)

Here are some articles to help understand that these compounds are important
for immune function (the abstract is usually enough):

A:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162863/)

B:
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7010964/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7010964/)

C:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5707683/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5707683/)

D:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166406/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166406/)

Vit D deficiency is widespread
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4018438/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4018438/)

~~~
poormystic
I suppose "best" is something of a personal value judgement, for which I must
apologise. However, the science is called "psychoneuroimmunology" and can be
discussed with any doctor.

~~~
yehosef
Sure, mental state plays a big role. It could even be that if you had to
"choose" between vitamin deficiency vs happiness deficiency, the latter would
be more harmful. But, it would seem that vitamin deficiency is an easier
technical problem we should solve regardless. And yet, I don't see any
discussion of it coming from CDC or WHO, etc.

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PaulHoule
It may well be that people are not killed by COVID-19 but are killed by a
disordered immune response to COVID-19, the same is possible true about
"chronic lyme disease".

Generally autoimmune diseases are a big problem: this lady probably had one

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Krupskaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Krupskaya)

so did Issac Asimov.

Thus you don't want to "activate the immune system" in general, rather you
want to activate good immune responses and deactivate bad immune responses and
that is not so simple.

~~~
yehosef
a "disordered immune response" typically means an immune system that is not
working properly, which may be genetic, etc but is more likely a deficiency.
This is how I understand it, but I'm open for counter-references.

>Thus you don't want to "activate the immune system"

This is exactly what the adjuvants in vaccines do. But I'm talking about
"boosting" the immune system - make sure it's working effectively which means
it's got the right molecules to do what it needs to. Vitamin supplements
(specifically in the case of deficiency) should allow the immune system to "do
its job".

