In the U.S. and other countries in the developed world, people no longer fear infectious disease, so they discount its importance. Instead, they fear such diseases as cancer and heart attacks.
However, this is a grave misunderstanding. Although nobody can yet say what "causes" cancer, a lot of evidence indicates that your immune system plays a role in eliminating cancerous cells from your body — BEFORE you even know you have it. It’s likely that you don’t "get"cancer unless your immune system is too weak or overwhelmed to kill out of control cells, and thus allowing them to grow into a tumor or the disease called cancer.
Plus, at least some cancers are caused by viruses. Some researchers believe that they’ll eventually link many more types of cancer to viral infections.
Some scientists maintain that even heart disease will eventually be found to have a viral cause. Science does know that the same unhealthy lifestyle behaviors that put you at risk for heart disease also weaken your immune system.
So if you keep your immune system healthy, your heart and arteries are also likely to be in good health.
In the poor countries of the developed world, infectious diseases are still the number one killers of both children and adults.
While the rest of you are unlikely to ever be exposed to such "exotic" diseases such as Ebola, dengue and malaria — you still face such threats as influenza, pneumonia, AIDS, and MRSA.
So far, bird flu has not proven a threat to most of the world, but it’s still not under control and so should not be taken lightly either.
For most of human history, people had no clue that they were competing with trillions upon trillions of tiny creatures. Most people go through their days blithely ignoring this.
Yet your immune system has no such luxury. They’re on the job 24/7 — or your health is in big trouble.
The truth is, germs are all around. People can and should keep their homes, stores, restaurants and workplaces clean. You can and should keep yourself clean, especially by washing your hands periodically. You can wipe every surface down with disinfectants. You can even filter your indoor air through ultraviolet lights. But you can’t kill every bacteria and virus.
They’re in the air, on your desktop, in your bathrooms, in your kitchen, on your hands, in the soil, in your water — everyplace. Without your immune systems, you’d have to live in a strictly controlled environment, such as the famous "Bubble Boy" once did (because he was born without a functioning immune system.)
Modern medicine fights infections with antibiotics and vaccines, and you should take advantage of these when you need to — but the best defense against infectious diseases is still your body’s very own immune system.
The stronger you keep your immune system, the healthier you’ll be. And the longer you’re likely to live. It’s that simple.