Fun Facts About Your Immune System - we are trying to demystify this wonderful defense network.
Your immune system is made up of a network of specialized cells, tissues, fluids and organs that co-ordinate sophisticated defenses against a variety of viruses, bacteria and pathogens. The cells of your immune system - and it is a network and system – is so complicated that it is not entirely understood by doctors and scientists yet. No-one can definitively explain the complex inner workings of your body's first line of defense, but we have learned a great deal since immunity was first discovered by Robert Koch in 1991.
Factors that can influence your immunity include:
- Your genetics and switched on genes.
- Your immediate and larger environments.
- Immunity altering treatments like vaccines, exposure to viruses and pathogens
- Your diet. Certain foods help, and some hinder the action of your body’s foot-soldiers.
- Your lifestyle. Are you getting enough sleep? And enough vitamins A,D and C - all vitamins which play a role in immune health.
- Your stress levels directly influence your immunity through the interaction of increased cortisol levels. Increased cortisol, which can disrupt your normal endocrine system balance and negatively affect your body's defense network, by causing deficiencies in your immune system.
Innate and adaptive Immunity
There is an innate component to your immune system. You were born with this part fully developed, and it's the reason we don't all die from Pneumonia type B or another common airborne disease, weeks after we make our debut on the planet. There is also the more complex adaptive immunity, a component of your immune function that has developed through exposure to foreign pathogens. This part of your immune system is run by T and B cells, the generals and soldiers in your immunity army. The T cells direct the B cells to kill off pathogens and viruses, and in the cases of autoimmune conditions, sometimes attack the body's own tissues.
Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system has identified your body's own tissues and cells for harmful pathogens that it is programmed to destroy, and it begins decimating its own healthy tissues.
The immune system is made up of organs that control the production and maturation of lymphocytes, specialized defense cells. Bone marrow, which produces white blood cells - the first line of defense when your body is exposed to a pathogen or virus. The thymus gland, found behind the breastbone and above the heart are the main lymphoid organs.
- The discoverer of the immune system, Robert Koch's was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1905 for his finding that certain microorganisms. (viruses) were confirmed as the cause of infectious disease.
- Each part of the immune system has a specialized and unique function.
- Your immune system needs the support of vitamins, hormones, viruses (to trigger correct immune defense) and various components and organs which together work in achieving a healthy balance.
Components of the immune system include:
- Tonsils, once thought to be useless and extraneous, are actually an important part of the lymphatic system and therefore a component of your immune system.
- The Thymus gland, which make antibodies.
- Lymph nodes and the vessels of the lymphatic system.
- Spleen, which filters and does basic housekeeping of your blood by removing damaged blood cells and platelets.
- Your spleen also assists the immune system by destroying pathogens, germs, bacteria and any foreign 'invaders'.
- Bone marrow produces white blood cells which are your body's primary defense cells.
- White blood cells. These cells are made in your bone marrow and protect the body against infection by isolating and attacking bacteria, virus, or other organism causing the immune response.
What affects your immune system
Stress can affect the way your immune system works. High levels of stress increase your cortisol levels. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is important for the overall healthy function of our endocrine system but excessive amounts of this hormone in your body can disrupt the fine balance of your immune function and too much of it can lead to decreased or malfunctioning immunity.
Diet is another factor in influencing your immune system. Most of us are aware that certain food can trigger anaphylaxis or severe allergic reactions. Even mild food intolerances are a result of the immune system incorrectly identifying an otherwise harmless molecule as a dangerous pathogen.
Exposure to past viruses, vaccines and pathogens train your immune system to identify potentially harmful germs. When the immune system incorrectly identifies a harmless molecule as a virus or dangerous pathogen and attacks it, an allergy or autoimmune condition can develop. These can be life-threatening. We are aware of deadly allergic reactions to peanuts, citrus, strawberries and a host of substances that many of us can ingest with pleasure.
Hmm, maybe these are not such fun facts after all!