resistance

The resistance is a natural immunity to certain noxae and usually exists since birth. Resistances can be species-specific or individual and make those affected resistant to certain substances. The most widespread resistances are now insulin and antibiotic resistance.

What is a resistance?

Substances or events with harmful effects for an organism are called noxae. This means that the most diverse causes of illness are among the noxae, such as biological, psychosocial, chemical and physical. The resistance to a certain noxious substance or a certain external negative influence is called resistance in medicine.

In a broad sense, resistance can also mean the ineffectiveness of endogenous hormones or certain drugs. Resistance is often innate. In the case of drugs and hormones in particular, however, they can also be acquired. An example of the area of ​​acquired hormonal resistance is insulin resistance as a result of poor diet.

In the narrower sense, a resistance is a natural immunity, which in turn equates to the insensitivity or insensitivity to external attacks and thus corresponds to the ability to eliminate certain pathogens without symptoms. A distinction must be made between resistance as a natural immunity and adaptive immunity, which corresponds to passively transferred or actively acquired defense mechanisms against certain negative influences. Forms of innate and acquired immunity are, for example, anti-infectious, antitoxic and non-specific immunity.

Function & task

Humans are immune to various noxae. This phenomenon is referred to as unspecific immunity or unspecific natural resistance. Such natural resistances exist, for example, in the case of foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever that cannot be transmitted to humans. In the case of foot and mouth disease, this non-transferability is due to physical and biological protective mechanisms such as the skin or mucous membrane barrier, which are specific to humans.

Resistance as natural immunities are genetically determined and, in addition to the biological protective mechanisms, can correspond, for example, to the presence of natural antibodies that are present without prior contact with the respective pathogenic germ or pollutant. As innate immunity, resistance exists since birth and, in the case of anti-infectious resistance, is achieved through contact with maternal antibodies via the placenta.

In addition to anti-infectious and anti-toxic immunities to certain noxious substances, resistance can also mean resistance to certain weather influences such as drought, cold and heat or harmful organisms such as parasites, bacteria or fungi.

There can also be resistance to antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics or toxic heavy metals and radiation. Although resistances are always anchored in the genetic make-up, they can be influenced by environmental factors such as diet.

Resistance is either active or passive. The so-called passive resistance factors are chemical, mechanical or thermal barriers that prevent a certain harmful factor from taking effect. Active resistance corresponds to certain defense measures that are triggered by exposure to a certain noxious agent.

Resistance does not only play a role medically in relation to humans. Resistance from viruses, fungi or other microorganisms can also be relevant.

Illnesses & ailments

A widespread disease is now insulin resistance, which is a symptom of diabetes. Insulin resistance corresponds to a reduced or completely eliminated effect of the hormone insulin within the peripheral tissue. The mechanisms behind insulin resistance are the subject of current research and have not yet been conclusively clarified. Current medicine is based on a genetic disposition.

With insulin resistance, the amount of insulin in the blood increases. At the same time, the insulin only has a reduced effect, which ultimately results in type 2 diabetes mellitus. A causal therapy for treatment does not yet exist. However, physical exercise improves glucose absorption and is therefore part of the basic therapy.

In addition to insulin resistance, various resistances are common. One of the most important in the 21st century is antibiotic resistance. Bacterial infections are usually treated effectively with antibiotics. Since poultry and pigs, in particular, are often treated preventively with large amounts of antibiotics and humans consume a lot of them in the 21st century, resistance to antimicrobial drugs is developing more and more often with consumption. An increase in resistance to antibiotics renders the drugs ineffective. In the case of infectious diseases, patients can therefore no longer be treated to a sufficient extent. In extreme cases, antibiotic resistance can threaten the life of the person affected, as the drug is one of the few treatment options for certain infections.

In addition to human resistances such as insulin or antibiotic resistance, the resistance of microorganisms or cells can also cause symptoms or problems when treated with a certain drug. For example, Staphylococcus aureus is the most common pathogen causing hospital infections.Some strains of the pathogen have an epidemic virulence in the sense of an extreme ability to spread, as they have an antibiotic resistance and are difficult to fight.

Pathogen strains regularly develop resistance to the therapeutic agents with which they were combated in the past. Similar phenomena are known from cancer therapy. When cancer patients are treated with cytostatic drugs, the effect of the drugs often decreases over time. The reason for this is the resistance that cancer cells develop during therapy. Cancer cells resistant to cytostatic agents no longer respond to the therapy with apoptosis, but continue to exist damaged or are even protected from damage if they are absolutely resistant.