Flu
7. Your immune system
As you get older your immune system becomes less effective which means that your ability to fight off infections and viruses is reduced. This also means that it will take longer to recover from illnesses and that relatively common conditions, such as flu or pneumonia, can develop and even be fatal.
'T cells' are a vital part of the immune system. When our bodies are attacked by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and cancerous cells, thousands of T cells are produced to fight off any infection before it can harm the body.
T cells are manufactured in an organ above our hearts called the thymus (hence the term 'T' cells). The thymus starts to shrink when we are children and carries on getting smaller over the years. It is one of the first parts of our bodies to be affected by ageing.
Although the actual number of our T cells does not significantly decrease, as we get older, the ones that we have seem to become less efficient.
Help the Aged is funding vital research into ways of making our immune system work better as we get older. Find out more on our Research into Ageing pages.
