How Does Your Body...

Cope With Germs

What exactly does your immune system do?

Basically it looks after your body – it keeps you free from infection and holds your body in the shape you know and love. The body’s immune system is an army. If you can imagine a whole body of troops, patrolling around your body and through your blood stream – you’re on your way to understanding a little about the immune system. If the immune system were to shut down,it wouldn’t take long for your body to be dismantled piece by piece leaving you with nothing but bones!

Your skin is the perimeter defense mechanism. It provides a physical barrier between your body and anything that might try getting in. Skin also secrets a substance which starts to deal with any germs that should land on your skin to try their luck. If it weren’t for this you could have all kinds of things growing on your skin - not a pleasant thought.

Next, you have other possible entry points, namely your eyes, nose and mouth. Saliva is a great antibacterial agent and anything that can make it past saliva then has to contend with the acids and enzymes in the stomach. Mucus and tears also contain an enzyme that works on dissolving the walls of many bacteria cells.

Once inside the body we have a whole new variety of troops. The lymph system plays a large part in detection and expulsion. The Lymph system filters out some bacteria which is why sometimes lymph nodes are described as ‘swollen’ as they fill up with the enemy bacteria and the cells that are trying to eradicate them.

The spleen also filters the blood for worn out red blood cells and any foreign cells. Bone marrow produces the blood cells that the body needs (be they red or white) from stem cells. There is a lot of research going into stem cell production and the benefits of stem cell harvesting – especially from the umbilical cord of a new born baby. It is hoped that should a person become seriously unwell in later life, if they have managed to harvest these cells they could be used to aid recovery.

Another part of the immune system is the thymus. It dwells in your chest close to your heart and it produces a specific type of white cell which helps to detect and destroy cells containing a virus or bacteria. The thymus can be removed from an adult as can the spleen without too much of a detrimental effect as the rest of the immune system has developed and matured enough to be able to cope with their loss.

An adult without these components is more susceptible to illness but with close observation is able to live a normal healthy life. However without a thymus a baby would very quickly become poorly and die as the whole immune system would collapse.

Blood is the body’s transit system and is made up of various cells – the main one being red. The red cell is the one that carries oxygen from your lungs and fuel from the digestive system to all the places in your body that need nourishment. Alongside the red cells there are white cells, which we can think of as our own personal army. Much like a real army, the white cells are a whole collection of cells that do different jobs. These are the cells that constantly ‘check out’ the risk of attack and defend their territory. The white cells in the blood also produce antibodies which attach themselves to the invading cells helping to prevent them from traveling through cell walls.

Our bodies are constantly being bombarded by millions of foreign organisms, germs and bacteria. Sometimes one or two make it through – this is when we start to feel a bit under the weather or in some cases very poorly. This is a good indication that the immune system – the body’s army - is doing its job. If an ‘infection’ does get by the initial defences, the ‘white cells’ begin to multiply and attack the invader.

This is why infections can sometimes be discovered through a routine blood test. The amount of white cells in your blood increases considerably if your body is trying to deal with infection. You may not even feel unwell.
Sometimes the immune system malfunctions and we are left to deal with allergic reactions or ailments such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. These conditions are evidence that the immune system is working – just not in a way that we perhaps expect or want. People who have organ transplant operations then require drug therapy for the rest of their life to prevent their immune system trying to attack the new organ.

The human immune system goes about its job for the most part without us even noticing. It’s only when it’s working overtime to protect us we even know for sure it’s there.

by Tracey Redding

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