How Your Immune System Fights Disease

...but it still needs your help.

Your immune system is critical for your good health so paying attention to it is important. Chances are, however, you probably haven't given your immune system much thought. The ads talk about building up your immune system as if you were growing muscles. It is not that simple.

In fact, keeping your immune system in good shape is complicated because it is like asking What can I do to stay well.

I don't know why but writers describe the immune system doing its job as if it were rallying the troops and going to war. The soldiers may be there but the immune system has no commander-in-chief and it moves a lot faster than any man's army. A better way is to think of the immune system as an immigration service. It supervises your biological business with the outside world through billions of pieces of information about incoming materials and takes action only when required.

The immune system itself is composed of special cells, proteins, tissues and organs and in most cases does a great job of keeping us healthy. Their basic job is to defend your body against infectious organisms and other invaders. Sometimes it does have problems and that can lead to infection and illness.

Your white blood cells are the primary components of the immune system. They are the soldiers and make up a communications network that helps organize the immune response. Their tasks are specialized: some manufacture antibodies, some eat up junk in the bloodstream, some zero in on cancer cells, while others sometimes turn against the body's own cells on occasion. Others have memory or a sense of history. These are the lymphocytes that remember when they once produced an antibody to a certain microbe such as the flu so that when the flu virus comes around again the cells immediately recognize it and produce antibodies that destroy it. This process is fundamental to immunization.

The job of your immune system is to protect your body from infections such as cancer, from bacteria such as Streptococcus (Strep throat) and the polio virus. It protects you by

Creating a barrier that prevents bacteria and viruses from entering your body;

If a bacteria or virus does get into your body, the immune system tries to detect and eliminate it before it makes itself at home and reproduces; and

If the virus or bacteria is able to reproduce and start causing problems, your immune system can detect the problem in the early stages and try to eliminate it.

Your immune system as other jobs, too, but its up to you to keep it in good shape so that it can do its work.

Many of us either do nothing or maybe do something strange when we feel a cold coming on or our throat feels raw. Do you have any home grown tips for us about how to keep our immune system battle ready? Type your stories in comments and we'll share them with our readers.

To your well balanced life and health.

Ruthan Brodsky

Comments

[Craig Maltby]

Hi Ruthan: Appreciate your post. Yes, the immune system is complex and works best when balanced. Constant boosting can lead to over-response. Immune over-reaction drives inflammation in the body, a which is a big component of everything from heart disease to allergies. An immune system that can suppress itself when necessary is just as important as being aggressive when necessary.