A new report based on research from the US has shown that regular binge drinking and alcoholism are responsible for weakening the immune system and putting the body at a higher risk of infection. The study, which appeared in the BMC immunology journal looked at the evidence from experiments on laboratory mice and cells and found that two major components of the immune system were blocked for at least 24 hours after periods of heavy alcohol consumption.
Stephen Pruett, of the veterinary medicine department of the University of Mississippi, and Ruping Fan, of Louisiana University were involved with the study and they have found that the immune system did not recover to its fully functional mode for at least 24 hours after the last dose of alcohol had been administered and in some samples, the effects lasted much longer than this. The effects of having a weakened immune system for this long could range from the development of a common cold, feeling fatigued and worn out to serious infections.
This is because the two components which are affected by heavy drinking are interlinked. The immune system responds to foreign bodies by using the TLR4 protein receptor which is one of the components damaged by binge drinking. Our immune system is unable to fight against bacteria and viruses which enter the body when this receptor is blocked after binge drinking. The other component which is hindered by heavy drinking is the cytokine produced in our immune system. The immune system only knows of looming infection in the body because of cytokine.
With no cytokine to warn the body against infection and no TLR4 to boost the responses of our body against the infection, we are at serious risk from becoming very ill.
You can boost the immune system in several ways. Exercise, eating healthy and supplementing your diet with supplements if need be will all help your body to stay strong against infection. However, the way you can really boost the immune system is to cut out any binge drinking, keeping your alcohol consumption to a minimum and looking after yourself if you do drink too much on a night out or at a party.
