Immune system suppression can be caused by inherited conditions, organ damage, infectious disease, malnutrition, and certain medications. Very young children, pregnant women, and the elderly may have lower immune strength, but this is not typically considered immune suppression.
Suppression of the immune system can occur for a variety of reasons. Some people inherit conditions that affect the immune system’s ability to do its job, while others acquire problems through organ damage or infectious disease. A number of drugs can also produce suppression of the immune system, although these have their benefits in certain situations. Different stages of life can also affect the efficiency of the immune system, such as old age or pregnancy, although as this is natural it generally does not fall within the medical definition of immune suppression.
The disease is a common cause of immune system suppression. In healthy people, the immune system employs a variety of cells and molecules that work together to resist disease. If one or more of these normal components is affected by a medical condition, the body is more at risk for disease. Conditions that can produce this include hereditary problems such as globulinemia, DiGeorge syndrome or Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome.
Some people who suffer from suppressed immune systems acquire their problems from an infection. Infectious organisms that can produce a weakened immune response include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Malnutrition can also result in immune suppression, as the body cannot obtain adequate amounts of nutrients to maintain system components at the required quality or quantity.
Organ disease or organ injury can also produce problems in the immune response, as can diabetes. Some organs, such as the spleen, are directly involved in the immune response and their removal negatively affects the body’s ability to defend itself against infection. Some tumors may also impair the efficiency of the immune response, or the cancer patient’s chemotherapy treatment may itself produce immune suppression.
Various medications, including chemotherapy, have a dampening effect on the immune system. Corticosteroids, for example, are drugs that interfere with the inflammatory action of the immune system and, by reducing the immune response, indirectly reduce the ability of the immune response to defend itself against infections. Other medications, such as immunosuppressants for transplant patients, are used deliberately to prevent the immune system from attacking foreign organ or tissue material.
Very young children and pregnant women have low immune strength, which can cause more infections than other people. However, this is normal, as babies’ immune systems are not yet fully developed and pregnant women need to stop their immune systems from attacking the unborn baby. These cases are not typically included in the definition of people suffering from immune suppression. The elderly are another group of people with a less robust response to infection, who are also not commonly included in the immune suppression group, but who require special care if exposed to infection.
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