Archive for category Immune System
The Immune System Diseases
Posted by in Immune System on October 3, 2011
Immune system diseases are one of the deadliest types of diseases given to man. Among immune system diseases are special contagious microorganisms, which are highly evolved to disable our body defenses. They aim to only destroy one specific component of our immune system functioning. It’s as if they know our bodies better than ourselves. By finding our loopholes, these microorganisms can compromises our body and we lose the fight. Sometimes they even cause autoimmunity. Let’s examine some scenarios where the body fails to fend off immune system diseases, and some tips to prevent immune system diseases.
The body has evolved several components that all work together to fight off disease. If one component malfunctions, the system may fail completely. Alternatively, it may become corrupted, hijacked, and manipulated by pathogens. Sometimes, the body can mistake “friends” as “enemies” and start attacking other cells in the body. There are 3 types of categories for immune system diseases. The first wide category is called immunodeficiency, where the bodily defense systems become inactive due to age, nutrition, or acquisition, as introduce by foreign pathogens such as HIV. Another category is autoimmunity, where the body fails to distinguish between itself and foreign pathogens. As a consequence, it often attacks itself, resulting in our own self destruction. Finally, there is hypersensitivity; the body overreacts with a massive response, assuring that its own tissues become damaged. This condition is characterized by reactions due to allergies. This is the mechanism of why anaphylactic reactions occur.
Immune system diseases thus present a set of many complications that are varied, as well as narrow at the same time. The best way to avoid the pitfalls of ill health and immune system disease is through best practices for disease prevention, as well as early detection. Early detection allows us to take advantage of the modern day developments in biological sciences. Read the rest of this entry »
Healthy Immune System Tips
Posted by in Immune System on October 3, 2011
The FLU SHOT…WOW now there is a topic we can go back and forth on forever. Does it really work? Do I even need it? Will the potential side effects out weigh the gains? Let me see I could be sick for a week or I could get a risky flu shot. (I am not even going to start on the H1N1 vaccine that is just a bees nest waiting to be poked.) So let us avoid all those topics, I will let you research that on your own and consult with your personnel health care provider, so you can make up your own mind. What we really need to talk about is, keeping your immune system as healthy as possible and functioning to its’ fullest potential. With that, you will have a great defense system already in place, no matter what attacks your body.
So here it goes- Your immune system is a complex system that can learn and grow with us as we get older and have different environmental stresses affect our body. In order to grow and remember how to fight off attacks, so they do not affect us again, our immune system needs to stay strong. In just the same way that our skin darkens in response to increased levels of sun exposure to protect us against harmful UV rays, our immune system bulks up to fight off infections. But unlike our skin which goes back to its normal color after being out of the sun for a few weeks, our immune system does not regress completely, IT REMEMBERS, that is, if we feed it, nourish it, and love it.
To be, or not to be Healthy that is the question: Well, not really, we all want to be healthy, it is just a matter of focusing on the important parts and not getting to wrapped up in all the details. So let us focus on the basics, vitamins, because there are so many places we could start. For this topic we are going to focus on the main vitamins that help our immune system. Vitamin C is easy to get, just drink your orange juice, not from concentrate of course. Most other fruits you eat will help you with that one as well. Vitamin D is usually easy to get all we need to do is to get some sun and play a round of golf every week, but wait a second, what about us stranded up here in the frozen north. Well, milk is fortified with it, so that helps, but cod liver oil supplement is a better way along with eating eggs and other fish. Omega- 3 has numerous health benefits, but one of those is improved immune function. Omega-3 is found in fish oils and also as supplements. So if you love sushi or just hate fish all together there are ways to get your omega-3s’. Read the rest of this entry »