Seven Tips To Improve Your Immune System

So What is the immune system?

A system of defence, protects the body from infection, it is made up of a complex network of cells chemicals tissues and organs and having an under-active or over-active immune system can cause health issues.

The immune systems job is to protect the body from infection. It recognises invaders such as bacteria, viruses and fungi as well as abnormal cells. It maintains the regulation of immune responses to help the body fight the any invaders. When harmful microbes such as cold or flu viruses or bacteria enter, The body produces white blood cells to fight the resulting infection.

The white blood cells identify the antigens or invaders and produce antibodies to fight them, they also help other immune responses to occur and learn from the attack, to build immunity against it happening again.

This is how vaccinations work, vaccines expose the immune system to a dead or weakened microbe or to proteins from a microbe, so that the body is able to recognise and respond very quickly to any future exposure to the same invader.

So How does the immune system work?

The immune system is involved in many parts of the body. Each part plays a role in recognising foreign invaders, communicating with other parts of the body, and working to fight the infection. The Parts of the immune system are; skin the first line of defence, bone marrow which helps produce immune cells, the thymus gland in the upper chest where some immune cells mature and the gut, where a large proportion of the immune system resides, there is a membrane between the outside and inside worlds…

The lymphatic system is a network of tiny vessels which allows immune cells to travel between tissues and bloodstream. The lymphatic system contains lymphocytes white blood cells mostly T cells and B cells which try to recognise any bacteria, viruses or other foreign substances in the body and fight them. Lymph nodes are small lumps in the groin, armpit, around the neck and elsewhere, they help the lymphatic system to communicate. They can become swollen as the body mounts and immune response, the spleen, an organ under the ribs on the left that processes information from the blood mucus membranes, like the lining of the inside of your mouth.

How can the immune system go wrong?

Over activity of the immune system is related to disorders such as allergies and autoimmune diseases. Having an immune response to something considered harmless to most people, such as pollen, dust or a certain food shows that there is a potential immune issue. Autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, occur when the immune system attacks normal components of the body. These are examples of an over reaction.

Immuno deficiency Under activity of the immune system, or immuno deficiency, can increase the risk of infection. You may be born with an immuno deficiency or acquire it from a medical treatment or a disease.

So now we’ve discussed the what and how of the immune system lets look at the important bit - what you can do right now today to improve how yours functions…

Watch the video here 

In Health & Happiness

Christian