Your Immune System Part II. Updated and revised 08/29/13 As foreshadowed in our previous article (Your Immune System), you are about to enter an arena of health and wellness that is highly controversial, and to the western mind, nearly unbelievable.
But, Dear Reader, the paradigms are shifting. During a paradigm shift, chaos reigns. Contrary opinions are touted angrily, as those who have clung to the old paradigm cling still stronger. Let’s face it, when penicillin was introduced to modern medicine, it sat shelved for nine years before being tested by those in power. So let us first start by tearing up the very ground upon which we stand. I last left you by stating that our Western science is mechanistic and materialistic. However, mechanistic thinking doesn’t always work for us. We already learned that a lack of antioxidants can hinder the effectiveness of certain parts of our immune system as they attempt to do battle against invaders. What is the missing link here, the missing variable? Remember these? Nutrition. Your Immune System Part I. It has only been in the last three to four decades that research into the workings of the immune system has really taken off.
Prior to this, the immune system was not completely ignored by the established medical community; it was used as an indicator of one’s health status. Remember your "white count" tests? A high white blood cell count told the physician that your body was fighting an infection. Beyond that, it pretty much was not only ignored, but it was abused, especially considering the innumerable medical procedures and drug therapies that suppress the immune system—some procedures actually decimate it. Oh, and by the way. In the fifties, tonsillectomies (removals of tonsils) were standard procedure. Another medical procedure responsible for suppressing the immune system is the appendectomy (removal of the appendix).
Removing inflamed tonsils or an inflamed appendix is equivalent to tossing out your smoke detector because it’s making too much noise. Lymphocytes NK Cell Activity 1. Maintaining a Good Immune System « Wayne Joseph’s Blog. Protect your immune system by following some simple steps.
Keep Your Immune System Working Right General cold and flu symptoms include malaise, loss of appetite, physical and mental fatigue, and aches and pains. The scientific term for these symptoms is the acute phase response, which is caused when the immune system actively releases excess amounts of certain inflammatory chemicals called cytokines, the most well-known of which are interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).
With this in mind, consider a time when you were psychologically stressed by an event or series of events and you developed cold/flu symptoms – the acute phase response. What appears to happen is that psychologically stressful situations themselves activate the immune system in a similar fashion as viruses; inflammatory cytokines are produced in excess, which causes an acute phase response that we misinterpret as “catching a cold virus.” Like this: Like Loading... The Immune System - in More Detail. Introduction The immune system is one of nature's more fascinating inventions.
With ease, it protects us against billions of bacteria, viruses, and other parasites. Most of us never reflect upon the fact that while we hang out with our friends, watch TV, or go to school, inside our bodies, our immune system is constantly on the alert, attacking at the first sign of an invasion by harmful organisms.
The immune system is very complex. It's made up of several types of cells and proteins that have different jobs to do in fighting foreign invaders. The Complement System The first part of the immune system that meets invaders such as bacteria is a group of proteins called the complement system. Phagocytes This is a group of immune cells specialized in finding and "eating" bacteria, viruses, and dead or injured body cells. Lymphocytes - T cells and B cells On the surface of each lymphatic cell are receptors that enable them to recognize foreign substances.
T cells B Cells.