The immune system is a system in the body that is fundamental to survival it mediates our body and the outside world. Multiple layers to it – 3 layer – if trying to protect a location you would build a fort – skin is an important barrier, internally the skin becomes a mucous barrier, it is stop thing getting into our body that shouldn’t be there. Layer 2 – cells like macrophages and cytokines are the police officer cells and messengers who travel around the body checking that everything is ok macrophages eat foreign cells they come into contact with, this happens constantly. We also found Proteins here that help us against viruses. Layer 3 – advanced part of the immune system – MI5 – t-cells and B cells specific threat that they have been alerted to and at the same time creating a memory to it so that it remembers it for next time, mostly this long lasting, which is why don’t keep getting chicken pox for example. 70% of our immune system is in the gut, so if this isn’t working properly your immune system is compromised.
Immunity is not just protecting us from infection. The majority of the time its role is to do housekeeping in the body, all your cells have a lifespan and it is the job of the certain immune cells to clear these away, keeping the body tidy, and they repair any damage that has happened. We have a lot of influence over how effective the immune system is. Our immune system is the main system which clears up cancerous cells from the body.
Your microbiota are the interface of your digestion and the rest of the body are one of the key educators of the immune system.
Every cell within the immune system has a receptor for Vitamin D. There are lots of unknowns still about why this is, but one thing we do know is that Vitamin D plays a regulatory role in the immune system at the level of cytokines. They are messaging systems. At the initial stage of infection we get a localised release of cytokines which triggers inflammation, this produces a rapid dilation of blood vessels in that local area. This makes it easier for white blood cells to get to the site of infection and the cytokines are sending out distress signals to the white blood cells. When they get there they need to easily get in to tissue and that is the role of the inflammation, it opens gaps in the vessel walls to enable the white blood cells to easily get to the infected tissue.
Microbes – bacteria, viruses, fungus – are not single-handedly responsible for an infection they seek diseased tissue to be able to replicate easier.
When we are in a state of stress our body changes how it operates and so it priorities the defence systems so immune systems are being supressed, we are also more vulnerable to infections if we have fear as we are depleting our immune system rather than nourishing and empowering it.
Sleep – crucial if we don’t sleep well our immune system takes a huge hit, one study of people who slept 4 hours a night compared to people who had a longer good nights sleep found that there was a reduction of natural killer cells of 72% these are your bodies best defence against tumour cells.
Refined sugar depletes our immune system glucose and vitamin C compete with one another, so if we are flooding our body with sugar it will get into our cells at the expense of Vitamin C.
Exercise – both under and over exercise can dampen the immune system.
Nutrient deficiencies – bland western diet will be low in all the vitamins and minerals.
Stimulants–A cup of coffee or two in a day is not a problem, but high intakes of caffeine lead to adrenaline surges. Adrenaline inhibits white blood cell formation, and when chronic, causes the thymus to shrink. Alcohol depletes the body of antioxidants.
Chemical drugs & pollutants–These are a load on the liver. Remember, it makes your complement system. Other more direct effects of pharmaceuticals & pollutants may include various endocrine disruptions, as well as iatrogenic (drug-induced) immune suppression / dysregulation.
Sedentism–Inhibits immune resilience due to impaired lymphatic flow, malnourishment of tissues, and deficient mechanoreceptor activation. Habitual sedentism amounts to a physical & mental stressor.
Suppression–Chronic suppression of acute symptoms tends to result in chronic symptoms. This warning applies mostly to pharmaceuticals(e.g. taking aspirin or Tylenol when a fever is present), but in some cases it also applies to herbs, like taking Echinacea at the right time.
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