我爲什麼總是生病呢

As an editor at Health, I practice what we preach. I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep most nights, I make it to my favorite workout classes regularly, and I eat all of my servings of fruits and vegetables in every day (okay, I leave room for wine and dessert too).

作爲《健康》雜誌的編輯，我練習了我們宣傳的內容。我幾乎每晚都睡7至8個小時，定期上最愛的健身課，每天吃一定份額的水果和蔬菜（好吧，我也會喝酒、吃甜點）。

Yet every year, I manage to come down with several colds, bouts of strep throat, and stomach bugs. I even got shingles a few years ago. My burning question: Why is my immune system so weak?

但我每年還是會感冒、喉嚨痛、肚子痛。幾年前，我甚至得了帶狀皰疹。我有一個急需解決的問題：爲什麼我的免疫系統如此之弱？

The short answer: It's possible that some people have naturally stronger immune systems than others. "I have some perfectly healthy patients who get five to six upper respiratory infections-aka, the common cold, or more rarely, full-blown influenza-a year, and others with the same health profile who hardly ever get sick," says Holly Phillips, MD, an internal medicine physician in New York City and author of The Exhaustion Breakthrough. "It doesn't seem fair, and honestly it's not."

簡短的回答：可能有些人的免疫系統本身就比他人更強。"我有一些健康狀況良好的患者，他們每年會患5至6次上呼吸道感染--也就是普通感冒，或者更少見的，全面感染的流感，而其它有着相同健康狀況的人卻幾乎從不生病，"紐約市的一位內科醫生、The Exhaustion Breakthrough一書的作者霍莉·菲利普斯醫學博士說道。"這看起來不大公平，但事實就是這樣。"

On the flip side, some individuals are also thought to be especially resistant to certain bacterial and viral infections. "Immunologists refer to them as having 'super-immunity,' and their genetic makeup is the focus of an entire field of research," Dr. Phillips says.

另一方面，有些人對某些細菌和病毒感染的抵抗力特別強。"免疫學家稱這些人擁有'超級免疫力，'而他們的基因構成則是整個研究領域的焦點，"菲利普斯醫生說道。

Your immunity is determined by several factors. Genetics play a large role, says Paolo Boffetta, MD, professor of medicine, hematology, and medical oncology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. "Immunological genes are many and complex, and your immune response depends on their combined performance," Dr. Boffetta explains.

人體免疫力是由幾個因素決定的。遺傳學起着重要作用，紐約市西奈山醫院伊坎醫學院的醫學、血液學和腫瘤學教授Paolo Boffetta醫學博士說道。"免疫基因多種多樣、非常複雜，而你的免疫反應取決於免疫基因的綜合表現，"Boffetta醫生解釋道。

Experts also believe that you build up immunity while you are young, or possibly even before you are born. "There are factors during infancy and childhood, and perhaps also in utero, that contribute to the development of the immune system, but they are not fully understood," Dr. Boffetta says. What's more, environmental factors, such as pollutants and toxins, may also weaken your immune system over time.

專家還認爲，人們年輕的時候（甚至可能在你出生之前），就已經建立了免疫系統。"在嬰兒期和兒童期，或許當你還在子宮內的時候，有些因素也會促成免疫系統的發育，但目前尚未完全瞭解，"Boffetta醫生說道。此外，環境因素，比如污染物和毒素，也可能隨着時間的推移削弱人體的免疫力。