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The Immune System: More Than a Cold Fighter PDF Print E-mail

by Lorna Vanderhaeghe

Your immune system never stops. Second by second, when healthy, it protects you from disease.
he human body contains a miraculous healing machine called the immune system. Made up of microscopic cells that secrete special messengers, the immune system is key to defending us from parasites, bacteria, toxins and viruses but it does so much more. Most of us realize that the immune system is what stops us from contracting a cold or flu or protects us from cancer but few realize that almost every disease we develop has something to do with failures or defects in our immune system. Did you know that the immune system creates your allergy symptoms; that it sends out the signals that cause the pain and swelling associated with arthritis and when it goes awry it attacks the body?

Every day scientists are making connections between the failure of our immune system to protect us and the onslaught of disease. For example:

Cardiologists have recently learned that bacteria, not destroyed by the immune system, are getting into our arteries, promoting inflammation which causes hardening or narrowing of the arteries, also called atherosclerosis. Now doctors are looking at ways of enhancing the ability of the immune system to destroy bacteria, thereby preventing cardiovascular disease.

Neuroscientists have discovered that an over-stimulated immune system can promote inflammation of the brain, causing irreparable destruction of brain neurons leading to Alzheimer’s disease and memory problems. Calming an overactive immune system may lead the way in reducing the incidence of this devastating disease.

Autoimmune diseases are a serious defect in the immune system where instead of the immune system attacking a virus or a bacterium, it turns on the body’s tissues, organs and cells and destroys them. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and type I diabetes are just a few of the over 80 different autoimmune conditions known to date. Treatments should focus on halting this process, controlling inflammation and balancing immune function.

Cancer is a failure of the immune system to recognize abnormal or renegade cells. By encouraging the immune system to seek, recognize and destroy these abnormal cells we can prevent cancer from developing and aid the destruction of it once it starts.

Osteoporosis is another condition whereby, in response to stressors, the immune system sends out messengers that cause calcium to be pulled from our bones. Successful treatments for osteoporosis now combine good quality calcium and other bone building minerals with herbs and nutrients that control inflammatory responses caused by immune dysfunction.

How it all works
Your immune system never stops. Second by second, when healthy, it protects you from disease. Some activities of the immune system can only be seen through a microscope and others can be seen by the naked eye. How do you know if this complex and intricate system is working? The following two examples are the most common visible signs of the immune system at work:

Skin injuries are a graphic sign of immune functions. When a bug bites you, a red, itchy bump occurs. This is because your immune system is trying to rid the body of any poisons that may have been injected and close the puncture in the skin. The inflammation (redness, swelling, heat) that ensues is to speed the healing process at the site of the bite. If you happen to get a cut in the skin that contains a thorn or sliver, this is an open door for bacteria as it allows direct entry into the body. The immune system responds by creating inflammation to kill off any bacteria that is present. If some bacteria manage to survive the immune army, then pus will fill up the cut to try and push the foreign object out of the skin.

When we get the common cold this is another visual example of the immune system at work. We are constantly inhaling viruses and the immune system is very good at destroying these potential invaders. If one particularly potent virus gets into the body, a cold develops and the immune system mounts an assault. First it will try and flush out the virus with lots of excretions from the nose and eyes or it may try to sneeze out the invader or the immune system may create a fever to destroy the virus with heat. These are all signs of the immune system aggressively trying to get rid of the cold virus.

Under the microscope
It is the microscopic activities of the immune system that people often find confusing. We have T helper cells, natural killer cells and macrophages as some of the main immune cells and each one of these cells secrete immune messengers that communicate with the entire immune system, along with the rest of the body systems. These microscopic cells are fascinating. By enhancing T helper cells to release certain immune messengers we can make the immune system better at fighting cancer. By controlling the release of other immune messengers we can stop inflammation, pain, autoimmune diseases and allergies. Think of a seesaw where one side of the immune system is suppressed and the other is overactive. To combat disease the immune system needs to be balanced.

We know that stressful events disrupt and weaken our immune system, as do poor nutrition (one teaspoon of white sugar can weaken certain cells of the immune system for up to six hours) and environmental poisons. Alternately, healthy organic foods, immune specific nutrients (called immunoceuticals) mentioned in this issue, stress reduction and detoxification of the body can quickly improve the action of our immune system. 
LORNA VANDERHAEGHE
A health journalist, she has been researching and writing on the subject of nutritional medicine for over 15 years. She is past editor-in-chief of Healthy Living Guide and Alive magazine. She worked at the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine for over five years. She is coauthor of The Immune System Cure, Kensington Books www.healthyimmunity.com

 
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