What Is the Immune System?
The immune system, on a very basic level, is the body’s defense against infections. The immune system attacks germs and helps keep us healthy.
What Are the Parts of the Immune System?
Many cells and organs work together to protect the body. White blood cells, also called leukocytes, play an important role in the immune system.
Some types of white blood cells, called phagocytes, chew up invading organisms. Others, called lymphocytes, help the body remember the invaders and destroy them.
One type of phagocyte is the neutrophil, which fights bacteria. When someone might have a bacterial infection, doctors can order a blood test to see if it caused the body to have lots of neutrophils. Other types of phagocytes do their own jobs to make sure that the body responds to invaders.
The two kinds of lymphocytes are B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes. Lymphocytes start out in the bone marrow and either stay there and mature into B cells, or go to the thymus gland to mature into T cells. B lymphocytes are like the body’s military intelligence system – they find their targets and send defenses to lock onto them. T-cells are like the soldiers – they destroy the invaders that the intelligence system finds.
How Does the Immune System Work?
When the body senses foreign substances (called antigens), the immune system works to recognize the antigens and get rid of them.
B lymphocytes are triggered to make antibodies (also called immunoglobulins). These proteins lock onto specific antigens. After they’re made, antibodies usually stay in our bodies in case we have to fight the same germ again. That’s why someone who gets sick with a disease, like chickenpox, usually won’t get sick from it again.
Although antibodies can recognize an antigen and lock onto it, they can’t destroy it without help. That’s the job of the T cells. They destroy antigens tagged by antibodies or cells that are infected or somehow changed. (Some T cells are actually called “killer cells.”) T cells also help signal other cells (like phagocytes) to do their jobs.
Antibodies also can: Neutralize toxins (poisonous or damaging substances) produced by different organisms, activate a group of proteins called “complement” that are part of the immune system. Complement helps kill bacteria, viruses, or infected cells. These specialized cells and parts of the immune system offer the body protection against disease. This protection is called immunity.
Humans have three types of immunity – innate, adaptive, and passive:
Innate immunity: Everyone is born with innate (or natural) immunity, a type of general protection. For example, the skin acts as a barrier to block germs from entering the body. And the immune system recognizes when certain invaders are foreign and could be dangerous.
Adaptive immunity: Adaptive (or active) immunity develops throughout our lives. We develop adaptive immunity when we’re exposed to diseases or when we’re immunized against them with vaccines.
Passive immunity: Passive immunity is “borrowed” from another source and it lasts for a short time. For example, antibodies in a mother’s breast milk give a baby temporary immunity to diseases the mother has been exposed to.
There are certain actions you can do to help support your immune system. Get a good night’s sleep, stay hydrated, exercise, eat healthy foods, breathe and de-stress, take certain supplements, and reduce your intake of alcohol. Keeping your immune system up and running effectively can be much like herding kittens. You can be doing all the right things, but if you add on one extra stressor your immune system can basically lower, letting in the opportunistic germ. Germs are always on us and around us. They are waiting for the perfect opportunity of one too many stressors, and then they can invade. A perfect example: Do you actually get a cold from being out on a cold, rainy day? No. But, maybe you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, you get cold and wet, you feel the chill, your body is trying to stay healthy, but one too many things occurred and now that opportunistic germ has found a new home in you.
Seems like staying healthy is a full time job. Let us help you think through the process. We are always here to answer any of your questions. And Remember to continue to:
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