Immune System Failure

You get sick more often than others. Colds don't come and go — they take up residence. Infections that others shake off in three days drag on in you for weeks. Perhaps it's recurring bladder infections, herpes outbreaks, fungal infections, or respiratory infections. Perhaps it's the creeping realization that your body has less to put up against viruses and bacteria than it once did — or less than the people around you.

Medicine speaks of immune deficiency, of reduced defences, of heightened susceptibility. It measures leukocytes, immunoglobulins, killer cells. That matters and has its place. But it doesn't explain why your system is failing right now. It doesn't explain why some people stay healthy under identical conditions while others don't.