Why are children and elderly people prone to getting sick?

Not teenagers, adults do not get sick but it seems that children and older people are the most frequently visited "sick" people. What is the real reason behind this?

Why do children and the elderly get sick easily?

Children, especially toddlers, do not have a fully developed immune system to protect them from mild illnesses. In addition, they often interact with other children, increasing the risk of infecting each other.

Meanwhile, the elderly are susceptible to infection because their immune systems weaken over time. In addition, they also tend to get sick more and the consequences of each illness get worse.

Children tend to be sick with incredible frequency and this is almost true for every child. However, this is a normal expression and parents should not be too worried. One of the most common diseases that children - especially babies and toddlers - suffer from is cold. It seems that just a little change of the environment can lead to colds.

An underdeveloped immune system

It is interesting to note that children often get cold after 6 months of age, because this is the time when their immunity fades away and is replaced by their own immune system. .

The immune system of children is still in the development stage, so they cannot yet formulate an immune mechanism for many types of bacteria.

Children, like adults, are exposed to bacteria anytime, anywhere. However, adult bodies have identified common pathogenic bacteria and are familiar with them (forming an immune mechanism). The immune system of children is still in the development stage, so they cannot yet formulate an immune mechanism for many types of bacteria. Therefore, they often fall ill when exposed to certain pathogens and bacteria until an immune mechanism is developed against these pathogens.

Children are often exposed to bacteria

Children are often exposed to (physical impact) with other children while these children may be bleeding or sick. In this way, children are more vulnerable to exposure to pathogenic bacteria.

The children are very careless

This is an obvious fact right from the beginning of the human race. Children tend to want to put everything in their mouths whether it is an apple, a coin, a pen or rubik's block. That's how they perceive the world around them, but this physical exploration trend poses an extremely high risk of exposure to the germs and bacteria that their immune systems have not been able to fight, so that they are often young. get sick.

So why do elderly people get sick easily?

The reason in this case is also directly related to the human immune system. What is our immune system? It is a complex network of cells, tissues and organs that work in tandem to help the body avoid disease and infection.

Elderly people are susceptible to disease because their immune systems weaken over time.

Aging takes place slowly, this process gradually has a negative impact on the human immune system and its ability to fight disease. Moreover, the immune system is slower in detecting pathogens and reacting to them. This gradually decreases a person's immunity due to the natural aging process that scientists call "immunosenescence".

Immunosenescence involves a number of biological obstacles in the body, including damage from DNA oxidation through cellular metabolism, reducing the ability of blood stem cells to self-renew ( HSC ). This reduces the number of phagocytes and causes the body to age gradually.

There are many other factors, such as exposure to chemicals, radiation . all of which accelerate the aging of the immune system over time.

This happens with the immune system of the elderly, especially after the age of 65 years - at this time the body has weakened and reduced resilience to fight the continuous attack of bacteria and bacteria.

A healthy lifestyle (including a healthy diet, no smoking and no drinking) combined with vaccination and exercise can greatly reduce the risks associated with systemic decline. immune system in the elderly.