Health Letter - Volume 1, Issue 1
Immune System, Collectively Known as Immune Cells
Immune cells are the key component to reversing or controlling most health conditions.
The immune system is made up of complex chemicals all working together to keep balance within the body and within themselves. The primary job of the immune system is to keep antigens in check so they don't get out of balance. Even the immune system itself can get out of balance, known as autoimmune.
To explain the entire immune system in a simple format can not be done in one lecture. But this first lecture will give you an understanding to start your journey towards complete health.
There are 9 known areas of support that help in keeping the body functionally balanced. It is important not to stimulate the immune system without knowing what parts of the system are weak. People commonly stimulate parts of the immune system that are already over stimulated or normal. This can cause autoimmune, or worse, stimulate more autoimmune symptom activity. Autoimmune is not as a bad as we have been convinced, it is just knowing how to approach it through the chemistry of the immune system.
The immune system is designed to stimulate, regulate or sedate. Most people with autoimmune disorders are continually stimulating the immune cells. The brain has its own immune system cacrophage called Microglia, which is still under research for a better understanding of its function. Starting with the:
Adenoids: Upper respiratory immune system response should be IgA-producing effector B-lymphocytes.
Left Subclavian Vein: Lymph System: The thoracic duct drains lymph into venous blood via the left subclavian vein.
Thymus: Stimulates the production of certain infection-fighting cells. It is of central importance in the maturation of T cells.
Lymph Nodes: Lymph nodes are components of the lymphatic system. They are sometimes informally called lymph glands but they do not secrete substances. Lymph nodes are filters or traps for foreign particles and contain white blood cells. Lymph nodes act as filters, with an internal honeycomb of reticular connective tissue filled with lymphocytes that collect and destroy bacteria and viruses. When the body is fighting an infection, lymphocytes multiply rapidly and produce a characteristic swelling of the lymph nodes. Lymphocytes, both B cells and T cells, constantly circulate through the lymph nodes. They enter the lymph node via the bloodstream and cross the wall of blood vessels by the process of diapedesis.
The B cells migrate to the nodular cortex and medulla. The T cells migrate to the deep cortex. B cells and T cells are both produced in the bone marrow. However, the precursors of T cells leave the bone marrow and mature in the thymus. Each B cell and T cell is specific for a particular antigen. What this means is that each is able to bind to a particular molecular structure.
Spleen:It is regarded as one of the centers of activity of the reticuloendothelial system (part of the immune system). The spleen is part of your lymphatic system, which fights infection and keeps your body fluids in balance. It contains white blood cells that fight germs. Your spleen also helps control the amount of blood in your body, and destroys old and damaged cells. The Spleen and Lymph system move fluid, dead bacteria, endotoxins and general waste throughout the body and out. T cells belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes and play a central role in cell-mediated immunity. They can be distinguished from other lymphocyte types, such as B cells and NK cells by the presence of a special receptor on their cell surface that is called the T cell receptor (TCR). The abbreviation "T," in T cell, stands for thymus since it is the principal organ for their development.
Peyer's Patch: They are aggregations of lymphoid tissue that are usually found in the lowest portion of the small intestine. This is where the small intestines become part of our immune system. Pathogenic microorganisms and other antigens entering the intestinal tract encounter macrophages, dendritic cells, B-lymphocytes, and T-lymphocytes found in Peyer's patches and other gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). Peyer's patches contain specialized cells called M cells which sample antigen directly from the lumen and deliver it to antigen-presenting cells (located in a unique pocket-like structure on their basolateral side. B-cells and memory cells are stimulated upon encountering antigen in Peyer's patches. These cells then pass to the mesenteric lymph nodes where the immune response is amplified. Activated lymphocytes pass into the blood stream via the thoracic duct and travel to the gut where they carry out their final effector functions.
Bone Marrow: Bone marrow (or medulla ossea) is the soft tissue found in the hollow interior of bones. In adults, marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. The bone marrow is the soil for the human body to grow many different cells.
White Blood Cells: (WBCs) such as lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, and monocytes. Neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils kill and digest bacteria. Lymphocytes primary live within the blood and lymphatic system. There are two main types of lymphocytes, T cells and B cells. T cells, which finish maturation in the thymus gland, help the body distinguish between it and foreign agents
Red Blood Cells: (RBCs) use iron in the form of hemoglobin to carry oxygen to tissues throughout the body.
Platelets: Which are also called thrombocytes, are actually fragments of cells called megakaryocytes? The body uses platelets in the clotting process to plug holes in leaking blood vessels. So you now can see the importance of bone marrow. During diseases like cancer the bone marrow has to be watched very closely or strengthened before chemotherapy or radiation treatments start. If the bone marrow does not maintain you a chance of stroke or the loss of the entire immune system could happen.
Appendix: The appendix seems to play a role in cleaning up bacteria (lymphoid cells) that may try to get from the small intestines to the large one. There is very little known about the appendix.
Thoracic Duct: The thoracic duct is the largest lymphatic vessel in the body. It collects most of the lymph in the body (except that from the right arm and the right side of the chest, neck and head, which is collected by the right lymphatic duct) and drains into the systemic (blood) circulation at the left subclavian vein.
Tonsils: The tonsils are areas of lymphoid tissue on either side of the throat. As with other organs of the lymphatic system, the tonsils act as part of the immune system to help protect against infection. In particular, they are believed to be involved in helping fight off pharyngeal and upper respiratory tract infections.
Understanding the Immune System
All living things have an innate immunity or some may call it an innate intelligence. This intelligence was designed to stand alert to deal with any foreign organism that may enter our body and mind. In a healthy person this innate intelligence acts up to thousands of times daily to stop halt observe and destroy if necessary an dispose of. These functions go on each day without our even being aware of it. We only become aware of this action if a particular area of the immune system cannot handle the demands of the foreigners request. Many of these requests that the immune system may not be able to handle are chronic diseases that take a lifetime to obtain such as Diabetes, Cancer, Hepatitis C, Neurological disorders, MS, and many other of those life threatening diseases.
Lifestyle plays the first contributing roll on how the immune system works, and then follows stress, diet, drugs, job stability and relationships. The brain is preprogrammed from a very young age on how to deal with health issues, which many of us were not taught to deal with at all. The warning signs are there but we simply ignore them and believe they will go away. Don't ever ignore what you find your mind repeating. It is trying to tell you something. Most chronic diseases we list take a life time to obtain which also make them so difficult to correct. Most of these diseases are reversible, controllable or improvable if the proper actions can be taken before it is too late. That old saying goes "if the body can create it then it can correct it." The human body is always working to place itself in a state of balance. The human body is a self operating, self contained, nonstop, 24 hour working operation, whether you are awake, in a coma or asleep. The human body even knows what to do when it is dead. The immune system is the most precise operating machine that will never be fully understood or duplicated. When you understand the inner workings of this amazing system, which take years, you will then see how easy it is to take care of the human body. It is a simple as knowing that most Arthritis is no more than a bacterial infection that cannot be treated by an antibiotic.
Final Note
With every disease there is a common denominator involving the immune system. When you know what part of the immune system is related to the medical condition, you are more than half way to solving the disease. There are always other components to disease that need to be reviewed, but this part of the disease was usually the part that started it in the first place and does need to be addressed or you will be living in what they call a disease tug-a-war. The human body does not want to suffer or die, unfortunately the human mind does. Enough suffering can change almost anyone's mind.
