As with many of us, some of my friends have reacted very strangely when they found out I was unwell with an autoimmune disease. One friend who I have known for years asked if it was contagious, when I said it isn't and tried to explain how the immune system worked I really struggled. You see it is really a simple answer..."My immune system appears to enjoy attacking me rather than the germs it should be" However this isn't everything. The immune system is a complex mass and needs some attention, even if it is just to help us all understand why you may have developed an auto immune disease or even an allergy. So for today I am going to look a little more in depth at our immune systems - rather than posting a disease in the spotlight blog. This is an all over look at what is going on within our integral immune system.
In order to take seriously how important our immune systems are....quite simply they help to keep us alive as much as our hearts do...they are an integral component to the overall running of our bodies.
The make up of our immune systems
Our immune system is what protects us from infection and foreign bodies - quite simply that is its job. It is made up of two separate parts and here is what each part is meant to do......mine just refuses too.
The Innate Immune System....
The innate immune system is the front line of attack.....it is the soldiers that are there to prevent or make it harder for damaging agents to enter our bodies.....that is a great film plot right there! This system includes tissues such as the skin, our stomach lining and finger nails. It is the number one, quick attacking defensive mechanism that our bodies have. Unlike the next phase, the cells that create our innate immune system really are the workers - they have the reflexes of a cat and are right on it when an infection is threatening to arise.
I like to think of this as soldiers on the front line, trained to spot the enemies from a distance, target them and get straight in there to kill them.
The Adaptive Immune System....
These guys are the thinkers, the ones that adapt to different threats, thinking about each one and how best to tackle them. They live behind the enemy lines, working tirelessly, but slowly, to come up with ways of fighting off the threats within us.
(Not so sure I understand 100% but I get the gist)Unlike the innate system, the adaptive is made up of three separate types of cells, that work together as the brains behind the army - B Cells, Helper T Cells and Killer T Cells - each three combining to create a deadly force. Now i know that we are talking about the inner workings of our bodies, but we see similar modes of attack in everyday wildlife. Think of how bee colonies are made up; they have the worker bees, the queen bees and the honey bees - all working in harmony to maintain the colony. This is no different to our adaptive immune system.
The B cells mentioned above literally make antibodies. The Helper T Cells work to help our immune system to remember what and when to attack, they work directly with the innate system to keep those fighters going for as long as possible. Killer T Cells do exactly as the name suggests, they excrete chemicals that directly attack viruses, working inside us to help us get over those horrid winter colds. As a simple rule, antibodies are chemicals that are able to bind together and microbes that look set to infect us.
Our adaptive immune systems are so clever that they remember certain infections and can then remember how to stop them from turning into the infection. Vaccinations work this way. Your adaptive immune system is given a small amount of a virus or infection to fight against. It will then remember this chemical make up so allowing us to not get infected again. Thinkers are very very clever.
Different ways our immune system can malfunction
You see this is the problem, as with any part of our bodies, our immune system can go wrong. I like to think of it as the army getting a little tired, confused or the battle so unpredictable that it sends them into crazy mode....leaving them fighting the wrong enemies.
One of the most common ways that our immune systems malfunction comes to us in the form of allergies. Hay fever is a great example as so many of us have it....oh it is so annoying. Hay fever is caused when pollen microbes enter our systems, they wont cause us any disease at all, but our immune systems kick in to respond to the threat, which is what they should do. However pollen isn't a threat and the immune response causes the itchy eyes to remove the microbes from them, running nose to remove them from the tiny protective nose hairs etc. Allergies like hay fever are uncomfortable, but generally manageable. However there are some allergies that are very deadly, such as nut allergies. Caused the same way as hay fever, those who have a nut allergy have an immune system response to the proteins within the nut. The results of this immune system attack can be so intense that they can have dire consequences.
The other way our immune system can malfunction is in the form of auto immune diseases. Here we get to the bit I know more than enough about unfortunately......
I love a good spy film. You know the ones, where a spy lives amongst the army, works alongside them and then breaks free, goes crazy and persuades the army to attack the wrong people. This is how I see auto immune diseases. My immune system will believe that my connective tissues are foreign and should be destroyed in a fiery battle. Other auto immune diseases include Type-1 Diabetes, MS, Chrons disease, Sjogrens, Scleroderma, Vasculitis and so on........
Now, my medication works to suppress the attack, which is exactly what we need. However, what then happens when a virus does enter my body and the army is sleeping. Well that is why my colds will last weeks, I will pick up more than normal...oh and if the beast does wake up...well then I will be battling the cold whilst my immune system battles my tissues.
There is so much left to explore within our inner workings. Our immune systems are still some what of an enigma, there is a lot left to learn and when they do understand it will help to make new medications. For now though, I will continue battling it out with the spies living within me.
Just thought I would add this one in for the ladies or gentlemen that appreciate some Ryan Gosling after an in depth post......
