Health
Everyday clues that your immune system is aging — and how to fight back
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Recent studies have shown that even if you feel healthy and fit, your immune system could be aging quicker than you think, which could increase the risk of infections and immune-related disorders.
“Immune aging, like all aging, means that our immune systems start to slow down, make more mistakes and be less effective at protecting us from infection as we get older,” Chris Rhodes, Ph.D., a nutritional biochemist and longevity expert in California, told Fox News Digital.
When the immune system ages, immune cells become less able to perform crucial functions like fighting infection, destroying cancer cells and healing wounds, according to Rhodes, who is also the CEO and co-founder of Mimio Health in San Francisco.
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“After the age of 35, our immune systems become less and less able to adapt to new antigens, allergens and other inflammatory stimuli — and our thymus, the organ responsible for producing T-cells, gradually shrinks, meaning our immunity and ability to respond to new infections becomes more compromised with age,” the doctor added.
Inflammation is a key driver of declining immune function, leading to what many experts call “inflammaging.”
While most people begin to experience “measurable immune decline” by their late 30s to early 40s, making certain lifestyle changes and boosting metabolic health can significantly delay it, experts say. (iStock)
“Low-grade inflammation accelerates many age-related diseases, from cardiovascular disease to neurodegeneration,” Dr. Pooja Gidwani, a double board-certified doctor of internal medicine and obesity medicine in Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital.
Signs of an aging immune system
Some signs that the immune system is slowing down include increased infections or colds, slower wound healing and diminished recovery from exercise or injury, according to Rhodes.
Fatigue, joint stiffness, aches and pains, recurrent viral flare-ups and a weaker vaccine response could also indicate a declining immune system.
5 ways to slow down immune aging
While most people begin to experience “measurable immune decline” by their late 30s to early 40s, making certain lifestyle changes and boosting metabolic health can significantly delay it, according to Gidwani.
“A youthful immune system isn’t about never getting sick — it’s about recovering quickly, regulating inflammation effectively, and preserving the energy and cognitive clarity that define long-term vitality,” she said.
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The experts shared the below strategies for slowing down immune system aging.
No. 1: Optimize nutrition diversity
Gidwani emphasizes the importance of nutrient diversity, not just healthy eating. She recommends incorporating a variety of plants, proteins and healthy fats daily.
“A wide variety of polyphenols, fibers and omega-3 fats nourishes the gut microbiome, which trains and regulates immune cells,” she said. “Because roughly 70% of immune tissue resides in the gut, microbial diversity directly predicts immune resilience.”
When the immune system ages, immune cells become less able to perform crucial functions like fighting infection, destroying cancer cells and healing wounds. (iStock)
Diet plays an “enormous role” in immune functionality and longevity, according to Rhodes, as the effects of certain foods can boost inflammation and lead to immune system stress. Over time, this can promote autoimmune disorders, contribute to disease progression and decrease longevity.
“The best way to keep your immune system youthful and happy is to focus on a diet rich in antioxidants, polyphenols and plant bioactives that have anti-inflammatory effects, as well as whole foods that avoid the glucose and lipid spikes that promote inflammation,” he advised.
Diet plays an “enormous role” in immune functionality and longevity.
Rhodes also recommends considering intermittent fasting to minimize the time the body spends in the “post-prandial (post-eating) state” and to benefit from “powerful anti-inflammatory effects.”
No. 2: Protect sleep and manage stress
Lack of sleep and chronic stress can cause immune cells to be more worn out, less effective at their jobs and more prone to making mistakes, according to Rhodes.
“Increases in cortisol caused by lack of sleep or high stress levels will promote immune system activation, which can be beneficial in the short term to avoid infection, but will lead to accelerated immune cell aging and less effective functionality over time,” he warned.
Experts recommend incorporating a variety of plants, proteins and healthy fats daily to boost immune function. (iStock)
“Ultimately, chronic activation of the immune system due to lack of sleep and high stress will burn out your immune cells faster and accelerate their aging.”
Sleep is the ultimate “immune modulator,” Gidwani said, as even one night of deprivation can cut “natural-killer-cell activity” by up to 70%.
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She recommends getting seven to eight hours of quality sleep nightly and cultivating a stable circadian rhythm.
Finding “intentional” ways to manage stress — such as journaling, meditating and spending time outdoors — can also help boost immunity.
No. 3: Get regular exercise
Exercise is known to strengthen immunity by lowering stress hormones, reducing chronic inflammation and helping immune cells move through the body.
Rhodes cautioned, however, that while exercise is essential to promoting long-term health and longevity, it can also be “pro-inflammatory,” as the damage done to the muscle during exercise also activates the immune system and causes inflammation.
“High-impact and intense-burst exercise like sprinting, HIIT training or heavy weight lifting will be the most inflammatory, as these typically cause the highest level of acute muscle and joint stress and promote cellular growth pathways associated with aging,” he said.
Exercise is known to strengthen immunity by lowering stress hormones, reducing chronic inflammation and helping immune cells move through the body. (Edward Bock)
Low-impact endurance exercise, like marathon running, hiking, swimming or biking, will typically cause less inflammation over time, helping to keep the immune system “functional and fresh” in the long term, Rhodes advised.
Gidwani recommends striving for a blend of aerobic (cardio) exercise and strength training to optimize mitochondrial health.
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“Consistent, moderate exercise enhances mitochondrial function and lymphatic flow, improving immune surveillance without promoting inflammation,” she said.
No. 4: Consider supplements (carefully)
Some supplements and newer interventions can help slow down immune aging, according to Gidwani.
“Core nutrients like vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and omega-3s remain foundational,” she said. “Beyond that, NAD⁺ boosters, senolytic compounds and select peptides — such as thymosin alpha-1 for immune modulation and BPC-157 for tissue repair — are promising adjuncts for supporting repair and lowering chronic inflammation.”
“Most people begin to experience measurable immune decline by their late 30s to early 40s, but lifestyle and metabolic health can delay it significantly.”
The doctor noted, however, that these supplements should complement, not replace, healthy lifestyle behaviors.
Rhodes suggested that while some vitamins and supplements are critical to immune function, the importance of these “has often been overhyped.”
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“While the immune system needs essential vitamins, minerals, proteins and fatty acids to function properly, taking high doses of these micronutrients will typically not add any additional benefit beyond avoiding deficiencies,” he said.
Some of the best supplements to take are those with anti-inflammatory effects, Rhodes said.
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“These can be compounds like EGCG from green tea, omega-3 fatty acids, anthocyanins from berries, and biomimetics like palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and oleoylethanolamide (OEA) that recreate the body’s natural anti-inflammatory signaling.”
People should speak with a doctor before starting a new vitamin or supplement regimen.
No. 5: Foster connection
Research has shown that oxytocin, known as the “bonding” hormone, plays a role in regulating stress responses and inflammation, which can boost immune function.
“Physical touch, laughter and community raise oxytocin, lowering cortisol and systemic inflammation,” Gidwani said.
Medical expert analyzes trending IV therapy, concerns about peptides
Dr. Mike Varshavski joins ‘Fox & Friends’ for Wellness Week, examining trending self-care treatments. He evaluates IV vitamin therapy, highlighting its hospital-critical role versus unproven benefits for general wellness, citing potential risks like vitamin imbalance. Dr. Mike also differentiates creatine, a research-backed supplement, from unregulated peptides marketed with unverified anti-aging and muscle growth promises, urging caution for patients.
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As “Fox & Friends” continues its Wellness Week, the conversation has turned toward IV drips, peptides and creatine, with a focus on whether they are helpful health hacks or overblown hype.
The segment featured Lawrence Jones undergoing IV therapy. According to the clinic staff, the treatment is designed to help with stress and overall wellness, making patients “less likely to get sick.”
Jones was treated with a cocktail of B vitamins, high-dose vitamin C, magnesium and amino acids.
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The staff also touted the benefits of NAD, claiming it “is going to clear up any brain fog” and is “amazing for physical injury.”
When asked about potential downsides, the clinician told Jones, “Honestly, there are no negative side effects,” and suggested that “you should sleep really well, wake up really well-rested to your first alarm.”
Peptides have gained popularity for outcomes like building muscle, healing injuries or appearing younger. (iStock)
However, family medicine physician Dr. Mike Varshavski expressed concern over the lack of informed consent and the nature of the claims.
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“It’s tough to say what actually happened in that visit because there were a lot of promises being made,” said the New Jersey-based doctor.
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He compared the human body to a car’s fuel tank, warning that “putting more and having it spill all over the place just creates added side effects.”
The doctor warned that fat-soluble vitamins “can actually build up in your fat stores and create toxicities.” (iStock)
Varshavski noted that over-supplementing is not a harmless endeavor.
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Fat-soluble vitamins “can actually build up in your fat stores and create toxicities,” he said, adding that high levels of vitamin B have been associated with a higher cancer risk.
The conversation then shifted to creatine and peptides.
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Varshavski was supportive of creatine, stating that it “actually has great evidence behind it” for explosive movements, though he clarified that it accounts for only about 5% of total fitness enhancements.
The doctor described the use of unregulated injectable peptides as “incredibly frightening.” (iStock)
In contrast, he described the use of unregulated injectable peptides as “incredibly frightening.”
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The FDA does not regulate many of these products, leaving patients vulnerable to “black-market” substances sold for “research use only,” Varshavski cautioned.
When it comes to vitamins and miracle cures, he concluded, “it’s not as simple as more equals better.”
Two manufacturers of the abortion pill mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to immediately restore full access to the medication, putting the contentious issue of abortion back before the justices in a midterm election year.
The requests came after a lower court on Friday temporarily restricted abortion providers nationwide from prescribing the pills by telemedicine and sending them to patients by mail. That process is one of the main ways women seeking abortions have obtained the medication in recent years.
If the order on Friday by a federal appeals court is upheld, it could sow confusion and upend a major avenue for abortion access across the country — not just in states with abortion bans. About one-fourth of abortions in the United States are now provided through telemedicine.
Louisiana officials had sued the Food and Drug Administration to restrict access to mifepristone, saying the availability of the medication by mail had allowed abortions to continue in the state despite its near-total ban on abortion.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday sided with Louisiana and essentially reimposed an F.D.A. requirement that health care providers prescribe mifepristone only after seeing patients in person. That rule was first lifted in 2021. The Fifth Circuit ordered that in-person dispensing of mifepristone be reinstated until the Louisiana lawsuit made its way through the courts.
The manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, are also defendants in the Louisiana lawsuit. On Saturday afternoon, Danco filed an emergency request asking the Supreme Court to lift the lower court’s order, which applied to patients across the country. GenBioPro filed a similar request Saturday evening.
“The Supreme Court must reject this unfounded and baseless attack on an essential medication,” GenBioPro’s chief executive, Evan Masingill, said on Saturday, adding: “We remain concerned that anti-abortion special interests are attempting to undermine the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory authority. This is why we are bringing our fight to the Supreme Court.”
In its filing, GenBioPro said that “patients and clinicians have, for years, relied on dispensing mifepristone without an in-clinic visit, particularly for women from rural areas and those for whom transportation, child care or occupational constraints make it difficult to see providers in person.”
It said that the Fifth Circuit’s order “is deeply unsettling to drug sponsors, health care providers, patients and the public — all of whom rely on F.D.A.’s exercise of scientific judgment and orderly administration of the Nation’s complex system of drug regulation.”
In its filing, Danco said the Fifth Circuit’s ruling “injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions,” and requires Danco, providers, patients and pharmacies “all to guess at what is allowed and what is not.”
In a motion filed on Friday night asking the Fifth Circuit to pause its order, Danco said that the ruling would cause “chaos.” The court had not responded to the request by Saturday evening.
The Trump administration has defended the F.D.A. in court, but has not said in this case, or in public statements, whether it supports keeping in place the regulations that allow for pills to be mailed. Rather, it has said that the F.D.A. is conducting a review of mifepristone. It has also asked the court to delay the lawsuit proceedings until that review is complete.
Administration officials recently told The New York Times that the review would not be finished until the end of this year, a time frame that would fall after the midterm elections.
The mifepristone case puts the Trump administration in a politically tricky position, given that many of President Trump’s supporters oppose abortion. The Justice Department has not responded to requests for comment about whether it would appeal to the Supreme Court.
On Saturday, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the F.D.A., declined to comment, citing “ongoing litigation.”
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to eliminate the nationwide right to abortion, Republican-led states like Louisiana imposed strict bans on abortion. In response, many Democratic-led states passed shield laws that protect abortion providers who prescribe pills by telemedicine and send them to patients in states with abortion bans.
Nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States are now carried out with abortion pills, typically used through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The medication abortion regimen usually involves taking mifepristone, which blocks a hormone necessary for pregnancy to continue, followed 24 to 48 hours later by a second medication, misoprostol, which causes contractions similar to a miscarriage. The Louisiana case targets mifepristone, which the F.D.A. approved for abortion in 2000. Misoprostol, which is also used for other medical conditions, is not affected by the Fifth Circuit ruling.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the F.D.A. lifted its requirement that patients visit a medical provider in person to obtain mifepristone. That decision was made permanent in 2023 and led to the creation of numerous telemedicine abortion services.
Louisiana has claimed in its lawsuit that the F.D.A.’s decision to remove the in-person dispensing requirement was based on inadequate or flawed data — an assertion medical organizations dispute, pointing to more than 100 studies that have found that mifepristone is safe, and that serious complications from taking it are rare.
In addition, Louisiana said that the regulations had resulted in numerous illegal abortions in the state, and that it had paid thousands of dollars in Medicaid bills for women harmed by mifepristone.
In its Supreme Court filing, GenBioPro said Louisiana’s “narrative is demonstrably false,” adding that the F.D.A.’s regulation change allowing telemedicine prescribing and pills by mail “does not require anyone to prescribe mifepristone, require anyone to dispense mifepristone or prevent Louisiana from creating or enforcing its abortion prohibitions. It simply removes a federal in-person dispensing requirement.”
In April, a district court judge in Louisiana said the state was likely to win its challenge to the regulation, but declined to pause the availability of pills by mail. Instead, the judge gave the F.D.A. time to complete the safety review of mifepristone.
In its ruling Friday, the Fifth Circuit sided with Louisiana, echoing the state’s arguments that the F.D.A.’s regulations were “undermining its laws protecting unborn human life” and also “causing it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care for women harmed by mifepristone,” according to the order written by Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee. He was joined by Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt, another Trump appointee, and Judge Leslie Southwick, an appointee of President George W. Bush.
Other litigation over access to abortion medication has been making its way through the federal courts.
In 2024, the Supreme Court declined to limit access to mifepristone in a case brought by anti-abortion doctors and groups that sought to have its approval revoked. The court unanimously sided with the Biden administration and the manufacturer of mifepristone, and said the plaintiffs did not have legal grounds to bring the challenge.
The case was revived later that year, and is pending before a federal court in Missouri. Another similar case was filed against the F.D.A. last year by Texas and Florida.
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All participants in a trial of bowel cancer patients remained cancer-free nearly three years after receiving an experimental treatment.
Led by researchers at University College London and UCL Hospitals, the study suggests that a short course of immunotherapy before surgery could produce better results than the current standard of care for certain patients.
The trial focused on 32 patients with stage 2 or 3 bowel cancer. These patients had tumors with a specific genetic profile called MMR-deficient or MSI-high, according to a press release.
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This profile, which is found in about 10% to 15% of bowel cancer cases, indicates a faulty DNA repair system in the body, the researchers noted. However, scientists hypothesized, that could make it easier for immunotherapy drugs to find and attack the tumors.
The drug shrank tumors so effectively that 59% of patients had no signs of cancer left by their surgery date. (iStock)
Instead of receiving standard chemotherapy after surgery, these patients were given a drug called pembrolizumab before their operations. The treatment lasted up to nine weeks.
Early data showed that the drug shrank tumors so effectively that 59% of patients had no signs of cancer left by the time they went in for surgery.
The latest data confirms that 33 months later, none of those patients have seen a return of the disease, including those who still had small traces of cancer remaining after surgery that never grew or spread again.
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“Seeing that no patients have experienced a cancer recurrence after almost three years of follow-up is extremely encouraging, and strengthens our confidence that pembrolizumab is a safe and highly effective treatment to improve outcomes in patients with high-risk bowel cancers,” said chief investigator Dr. Kai-Keen Shiu, a consultant medical oncologist at UCLH and associate professor at UCL, in the release.
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With the traditional approach of surgery followed by chemotherapy, about 25% of patients with this genetic profile would see their cancer return within three years, according to the study.
The study was a small trial with only 32 people and only looked at a specific genetic subset of patients. (iStock)
The research team also used personalized blood tests to monitor the patients. These tests look for tiny fragments of tumor DNA in the bloodstream, allowing doctors to determine whether the treatment was working before the surgery.
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“When tumor DNA disappeared from the blood, patients were much more likely to have no cancer remaining, and this matched the long-term results we’re now seeing,” said first author Yanrong Jiang, a clinical PhD student at the UCL Cancer Institute, in the release.
The study did have limitations, the researchers noted. It was a small trial with only 32 people and only looked at a specific genetic subset of patients, which means the results may not apply to everyone with bowel cancer.
“We now may be able to predict who will respond to the treatment using personalized blood tests and immune profiling,” said one of the members of the research team. (iStock)
Doctors also need to follow the patients for a longer period to ensure that the cancer doesn’t return, they added.
Even so, the researchers shared their optimism about the future of personalized care.
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“What is particularly exciting is that we now may be able to predict who will respond to the treatment using personalized blood tests and immune profiling,” Shiu said.
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“These tools could help us tailor our approach, identifying patients who are doing well and may need less therapy before and after surgery.”
The results were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026 in San Diego last month.
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