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 Why don't our immune systems attack us?
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Sometimes the immune system does make a mistake. One type mistake is called autoimmunity: the immune system attacks your own body the same way it normally attacks a germ. Two examples of diseases that are caused by immune system mistakes are... Full Answer
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- Q How do antibodies work within the immune system?
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Antibodies (also called immunoglobulins and gammaglobulins) are produced by white blood cells. Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that respond to a specific antigen (bacteria, virus or toxin). Every antibody has a special section (located at the tips of... Full Answer
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- Q How does bone marrow relate to your immune system?
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Dr. Brad Spellberg, Infectious DiseaseThe bone marrow is the site of production of all blood cells, including white blood cells. White blood cells are what defend our bodies from infections. So, if the bone marrow does not work right, and white cells are not produced in adequate... Full Answer
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- Q What cells make up the immune system?
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Dr. Anthony Komaroff, Internal MedicineThe cells of the immune system are quite distinctive, each with its own role to play. Phagocytes: The defensive line of the immune system, these cells gobble up invaders and signal for help from lymphocytes. Mast cell: Mast cells release... Full Answer
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- Q What is an autoimmune process?
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An autoimmune process is a process in which the body's immune system -- which is responsible for protecting your body from invading illness -- mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. Type 1 diabetes results from an autoimmune process that attacks the... Full Answer
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- Q What happens when the immune system malfunctions?
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Dr. Larry Chiaramonte, Allergy & ImmunologyOccasionally the immune system goes completely haywire. In the diseases rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, for example, the immune system attacks healthy tissue in the joints and organs. The resulting chronic inflammation can be progressively... Full Answer
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- Q What is an autoimmune response?
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, CardiologyWhen your immune system cells start attacking your body's own healthy tissue just as if it were a foreign invader, like a bacteria or virus, it can lead to a whole host of illnesses-and some can be very serious. This dangerous friendly fire is called an... Full Answer
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- Q What are the basic causes of any disease?
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Dr. Louis Rosner, NeurologyAt this point in medical history, scientists acknowledge eleven basic causes of all disease. Every disease known to man is caused by something: Toxic Vascular Metabolic Hereditary Congenital Degenerative Psychogenic Or by: Tumors Trauma Infection... Full Answer
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- Q How does the immune system protect the body?
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Eric Olsen, FitnessThe body's immune system is a surveillance system that helps the body recognize "self" from "notself," attacking and destroying whatever it perceives to be notself, whether that happens to be an invading virus or one of the body's own cells that... Full Answer
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- Q How does exposure to germs affect the immune system?
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The main role of the body's immune system is to distinguish between harmless and harmful organic matter and a few poisons. One part of the human immune system comes hard-wired at birth, while another part develops as we grow, honing the ability... Full Answer
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