Beware the Dangers of Immunodeficiency Disorders

For most people, an immunodeficiency disorder can spell severe trouble. The immune system is supposed to protect the body. It functions as a shield to keep disease from striking. However, what happens when that shield isn’t solid? What happens if the shield is completely gone and ineffective at blocking the attack of disease? 

That’s how people with immunodeficiency disorders live. Their immune systems don’t function when it comes to specific outside attackers. In some cases, it’s specific types of bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc. At other times, it’s all of those and any condition that can be acquired! Quite simply, living with an immunodeficiency disorder is much more difficult than living without one. 

Immunodeficiency Disorder Signs

Unlike traditional disorders, illnesses and diseases, there’s no real “list of symptoms” that can be given for an immunodeficiency disorder. The only symptom is that a person isn’t healing as they should. This means that minor illnesses often play a much more major role than they should. Simple cases of the cold can be chronic and last for extended periods of time. This can also be true for many other illnesses or conditions like yeast infections, bouts of pneumonia, constant sinus infections, pinkeye outbreaks and bouts of consistent diarrhea. 

Once a condition has become a frequent or chronic problem, then a doctor will likely order some tests to determine if things are potentially an immunodeficiency disorder. It can take several tests to determine immune response. 

Different Immunodeficiency Disorders

There are a wide variety of different disorders that a person can come into contact with. Some are born into people, while others can be contracted through other means later. Some of the common immunodeficiency disorders include:

• Specific Cancers - There are several cancers which can affect the blood cells, and more specifically the white blood cells of the immune system. Some form of leukemia do so, as does multiple myeloma
• AIDS - This is a well known immunodeficiency disorder. Aids comes from HIV and is transmitted through fluids. These include semen, blood, breast milk, vaginal fluids and more. Specifically, it is not transmitted through saliva.
• Chronic Granulomatous Disorder - When the body is injured, groups of cells called granulomas will form where an infection begins. Neutrophils (a kind of cell) produce a chemical to fight off some bacteria and fungi. This disorder specifically affects the neutrophils and is vulnerable to specific fungi and bacteria, but other infections are handled by the immune system properly. 

What Causes an Immunodeficiency Disorder?

There are two kinds of immunodeficiency disorder that a person can deal with. The first are called primary immunodeficiency disorders and the other is secondary immunodeficiency disorders. People who suffer from primary immunodeficiency disorders acquired them at birth. As they are genetic in nature, there’s nothing that can be done to avoid them. 

Secondary immunodeficiency disorders are caused by outside sources. This means that there’s ways to help prevent some of them by staying healthy. For example, AIDS is most commonly passed through unprotected sexual activity. By ensuring safe sex practices are followed, the risk of getting AIDS decreases. There are several other factors which can end up causing a secondary immunodeficiency disorder. These include: 

• Suffering from severe burns
• Undergoing chemotherapy
• Being exposed to uncontrolled or high levels of radiation
• Suffering from diabetes
• Suffering from a case of malnutrition. 

There are only some of the potential causes of secondary immunodeficiency disorders. There are still more ways in which a disorder could become prevalent.