GMW555's+Immune+System+Wiki

The Immune System  By: GMW555



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Function of The Immune System Your [|Immune System] is a complex network of cells, tissues and organs working together to keep you healthy. Even if you don’t realize it your Immune System is worki ng day and night. It doesn’t seem so but your body has more protection than just your Immune cells. Your skin, breathing passages, mouth and stomach are all helping to keep out all the germs. The salvia and Germs are in the air on furniture and even on your hands. That’s why its so important to wash your hands, so your Immune System doesn’t have to work as hard. If a germ manages to get inside of you, don’t wor ry, you have cells whose job it is to have any invading pathogens (germs) destroyed. The first thing that happens when your body detects an invader is called the Inflammatory Response. When this happens your blood vessels around the area where the germ is will wid en and leak making so that more fluids can come and help you get rid of the pathogens. But sometimes it’s not that easy to get rid of the un-welcome cells. I    may take a while for a number of different reasons. There may be lots of germs or they may have infected a lot of your cells. When your cells get infected they start producing the pathogen they where infected by. Then your body has to send destructive fluids to destroy the infected cell. But don’t worry another cell is going to grow in its placevery soon. Anyway if this happens then your body will heat up past 98. 6º f (normal body temperature) so that the germs either die off from the excess heat or cant grow and split anymore. This is called a fever and it makes it easier for your WBC to come and destroy them. If your body is infected enough that it causes a fever it causes the strongest reaction your body has, it is called the Immune Response. This is when your WBC (White Blood Cells) come out ad help. You have three types of white blood cells, but lets just talk about Lymphocytes. The two most important types of lymphocytes are called T and B-lymphocytes. The T cells recognize or find all the bad pathogens and tell the B cells where they are what they are and how to get rid of them. They g et this information to the other cells thorough chemical signals. The way the T cells distinguish which cells are invaders by little things on the germs called antigens. The first thing that the B cells do when they get a warning signal is release antibodies. There are al different types of antibodies but only one will work with each type of germ. Antibodies stick on to the antigens on the other cells causing them to make them slower and easier to destroy. This is only a little bit of information on this system but you can already see how hard it would be with out your Immune System. Organs of the Immune System Unlike some system the Immune System only has four main organs. They are the spleen, thymus, bone marrow and lymph nodes. Your spleen is located on your left side lower than your stomach. This organ filters your blood taking out unusable RBC (red blood cells) but more importantly it takes out any germs from your blood stream. Your lymph nodes do almost the same thing but for your lymphatic system. You lymphatic system is a bunch of veins running thro ugh the body that contain mostly contains WBC, but there is also some clear bodily fluids in lymph, a bit like water, that it takes from your organs. Your lymph nodes filter your lymph for harmful cells. The thymus is in-between your lungs, This organ releases T cells. This is very important because without your identifiers your B cells would start attacking random cells, some probably vital. On the brighter side, your bone marrow, which is inside your bones, makes your RBC but more importantly your B cells with [|red bone marrow]. This is very important because with out your B cells, it would be like having an army with no solders, you couldn’t fight pathogens with out your B cells, so be grateful for your bone marrow. Systems the Immune System Works With Even though it may not look it at first glance the Immu ne System works with or helps virtually every system in the human body. The main system that the Immune System relies on would be the Circulatory System. Most of the cells of the Immune System travel via the blood, it’s its transportation. But the blood has to be pumped through the body by the heart, and the heart is made of car diac muscle, that’s part of the Muscular System. With out it our cells would take forever to get to the pathogen to help “fight”, and if they do get there it would probably be ove r or the germ moved. So the Muscular System is also a crucial part in maintaining our body’s health. These cells are moving and doing lots of stuff, so they need a source of energy, The Digestive System. The Digestive System supplies the cells and organs of the Immune System with the energy they need to keep you well. But the cells and organs also need O2 (oxygen) to function, they get it from the Respiratory System. The lungs (of th e Respiratory System) separate the O2 from the CO2 (carbon dioxide) and put the O2 in the blood stream for your body to use (including the Immune System). The Immune System shares one organ with another system. It shares the Thymus with the Endocrine System (basically this system releases chemicals in to your body that you need to live and grow). When you’re a baby your thymus releases a chemical that helps develop your Immune System quickly after you have been born so that you don’t get sick. This still takes about a month before a baby’s Immune System is completely developed. That’s why you don’t see many young babies in public, (where there are more germs). When the baby is still in the mothers whom (where you are before your born) it uses the mothers Immune System, therefore it doesn’t need its own until he or she comes out. The Skeletal System has 206 bones and all the bones have bone marrow inside them. Bone marrow is made up of blood vessels and fat tissue. Almost all of the bone marrow in your body produces B cells. All of your bone marrow from your waist down most definitely does. The Immune System will also help all of the other systems by at least keep them free of germs and healthy as well as working with some others in minor ways. Health of the Immune System

Even if you are doing it absentmindedly you are helping your Immune System 24/7. Eating is giving your Immune System energy to fight germs. Sleeping is giving your cells rest for tomorrow. Washing your hands is less work that fighting all those pathogens on your hand. All of these every day things are helping your Immune System immensely. But there are other things you can do to help your body stay healthy Eliminating any stress in your life helps your immune system focus completely on keeping germs out and not your social life. Also don't let any bodily fluids from another person get into your body. This is a precaution taken so as to to get [|HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) which causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)] which is when the HIV attacks your T cells and reproduces inside of it so it can invade more cells which eventually causes the T cells to die. I'm not trying to scare you with this information I'm just trying to inform you so you know what can happen. Once you get HIV there is now cure but there is a way to control it and let people who have it continue with their life, even though it may not be what you consider "normal". This is the only known virus that directly attacks the Immune System so thats but good but this is a sirius sickness so your have to be carful of it, but your should know the ** only ** way of getting HIV and AIDS is by having an infected persons bodily fluids get iside of you. You can't get it by being around a person who has it, it can only survive outside of a persons body in their fluids for a short time. One other way to prevent yourself from geting it is to have safe sex. Even though there is only one virus you can get from someone else there are also things that your body can develop or you are born with. Cancer is the most dangerous thing that can happen. This is when your cells grow out of control and start interfering with other things. This can be fatal and there only is a cure if the doctors catch it before it gets big. If they catch it soon enough you can be fine, this is why its so important to tell the doctors and your parents exactly how your feeling. But don't worry about that unless you don't feel normal. Allergies are a substance or thing that your particular Immune System thinks is a germ and attacks it causing swelling, pain or gas. Your Immune System can also cause type one diabetes (there are two types (type one you're are sometimes born with) by attacking your pancreas and causing you to stop producing insulin the chemical your digestive system uses to break down sugars.