Immune System
Immune and lymphatic system health is necessary for protecting your body from germs and diseases. Known as the bodys first line of defense, your immune system and lymphatic system help protect you from bacteria, viruses and fungi that cause disease.
Your lymphatic system produces and carries white blood cells containing antibodies that fight off infection. Your lymphatic system transports and destroys dead or damaged cells and cancer cells, removing these substances from the blood stream.
Problems with your immune and lymphatic system can result in various diseases. A weakened immune system can lead to diseases including cancer, the flu and chronic fatigue syndrome. An overactive immune system can lead to diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), Huntingdons disease and lupus.
Allergies occur when your immune system mistakes harmless substances for threats and attacks these harmless substances.
Recently Answered
- Q What is the immune response?
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Dr. Anthony Komaroff, Internal MedicineThe immune response is essentially a sequence of events executed in response to the alarm that goes off when a potentially dangerous microbe, called a pathogen, breaches the body's outer defenses. Because timing is key to success, think of... Full Answer
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- Q What is clonal expansion?
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Dr. Anthony Komaroff, Internal MedicineThe explosive increase in the number of lymphocytes, both B cells and T cells, from just a few to millions in the presence of an infection was discovered in the 1950s. The process, called clonal expansion, is what gives the adaptive immune system... Full Answer
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- Q What is passive immunity?
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Dr. Anthony Komaroff, Internal MedicineThe term immunity usually refers to active immunity, in which your body uses your immune system's weapons to respond to an attack. However, there is another form of immunity called passive immunity. This occurs when the immunity of one... Full Answer
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- Q How do we develop free radicals that damage tissue?
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Dr. Grant Cooper, Physical Medicine & RehabilitationFree radicals are produced when weak molecular bonds are attacked and broken, resulting in a molecule with an unpaired electron. This unpaired electron is extremely unstable and quickly "attacks" a neighboring molecule to capture its electron, resulting... Full Answer
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- Q What is the role of the immune system?
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Dr. Michael Roizen, Internal MedicineOur immune system is our body's vital self-policing system. It constantly monitors our health and goes into action to thwart any potential problems. When we pick up viruses or bacteria, our immune system works to find and destroy them. When a... Full Answer
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- Q What is immunosuppression?
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Immunosuppression refers to suppression of the immune system. Because the immune system protects the body from foreign invaders, people who receive islet cell, kidney, and pancreas transplants take immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the immune system... Full Answer
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- Q Can I become immune to a particular medicine?
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Unfortunately, disease symptoms change - they often get worse over time and require an increase in dose of medication or a change in medication. People may confuse this worsening of disease with becoming immune to a particular medication. Full Answer
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- Q If my child is sick often, can something be wrong with his immune system?
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Young children who are in daycare and young children who have older siblings in school tend to get sick often with common illnesses like coughs, colds, and intestinal infections. A child who gets repeated unusual infections such as a bone... Full Answer
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- Q How does the body's immune system react to an allergen?
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Dr. Larry Chiaramonte, Allergy & ImmunologyWhen the body initially encounters an allergen -- what's known as primary exposure -- it can react in one of three ways, two of which are positive or harmless and the third of which is allergic. The first is immunization: The body produces normal... Full Answer
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- Q What is an antigen?
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An antigen is a substance (such as part of a virus or bacteria) that triggers the immune system to produce cells (antibodies) that attack and try to destroy the antigen. The body usually produces one specific type of antibody for each antigen.Sometimes... Full Answer
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