Immunity boosting shot

At present, there is no "universal shot" that is suitable for all healthy people in the world and can improve immunity in all aspects. Most of the so-called "immunity-boosting shots" circulating on the market are either nutritional supplements with a stolen concept, or medical preparations that are abused beyond the indications. Ordinary healthy people pay IQ tax for more than 90% of the injections.

Don't believe it, when I was on duty in the clinical nutrition department a while ago, I met a girl born after 1995 who opened a nail salon. She grabbed the WeChat business promotion page on her phone and asked. She said that a shot of 3980 immunity shots imported from Switzerland not only prevented colds for a year, but also lightened spots and resisted aging. I took the ingredient list she took and looked at it. Oh my god, it’s just regular doses of vitamin C and B12 plus some glutathione. A transfusion of this solution in a community hospital would cost a hundred yuan. The so-called “imported” and “patented” are all packaged gimmicks.

Of course, this does not mean that all immune-related injections are IQ taxes. Last year, my second uncle received chemotherapy after surgery for lung cancer, and his white blood cells were extremely low. He followed the doctor's advice and took thymusfacin for two months. During that time, he did not have repeated fevers and infections like the people in the same ward. This type of immunomodulatory preparations that are regularly used in clinical practice, including intravenous human immune globulin, specific immune vaccines, etc., do have a clear immune-boosting effect, but only if you really meet the medical indications - either for people with immune deficiencies, or for patients with severe infection, immune collapse after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, or for high-risk groups who need to prevent specific diseases. They are all prescribed by doctors after evaluation, and will not be sold casually on WeChat Moments.

When it comes to this, some people will definitely refute it. My elderly/children did have fewer colds after taking a certain injection? This is actually the most controversial part now: some practitioners of functional medicine believe that for people with clear nutritional deficiencies, such as those whose serum selenium and vitamin D levels are found to be far lower than normal, or those who stay up late for a long time and have low immunoglobulin subtypes, customized immunonutrition infusion is indeed absorbed faster than oral supplements, and is suitable for people who have to prepare for the college entrance examination or major projects and urgently need to adjust their status. Many people do feel better and less sick after taking the injection. This has the effect of symptomatic supplementation and a certain placebo effect. However, most doctors who hold the view of evidence-based medicine are opposed to such injections for healthy people. The director of pediatrics I know is popularizing science in the group of mothers every day. Healthy children are casually given so-called immune-boosting injections such as spleen and pidotimod. Not only are they useless, but they may increase the burden on the liver and kidneys and even induce allergies. My colleague's baby was secretly taken away by his grandmother for injections. He came back with hives and it took almost half a month to heal.

As an aside, I saw a social news story a while ago. In order to prevent COVID-19, a man spent more than 20,000 yuan to take three so-called "super immunity boosting shots". The result was still positive. He went to WeChat Business to defend his rights. WeChat Business said that he had a poor schedule and the effect of the medicine was reduced, which made me laugh and cry. In fact, immunity is like the security team in your community. Under normal circumstances, there are enough and well-trained security guards to guard the door. If you insist on forcing a bunch of untrained security guards to come in, it will not only waste money, but also easily block the door of the community. If the security guards don't fight among themselves, it will induce autoimmune disorders.

If you really feel like you are catching a cold every now and then and feeling exhausted, go to the hospital to get a blood test to check five items of your immune function. If you really have a problem, follow the doctor’s advice. If there is no problem, stay up less late at night and eat less takeaways that are heavy in oil and salt. Take 10 minutes a day to go downstairs to bask in the sun and walk two steps. Make sure you eat one pound of vegetables and half a pound of fruit every day. It is much more reliable than spending thousands of dollars on injections with unknown ingredients.