  What Is The Immune System ?
by Lori Matthews
An immune system protects an organism against disease involving
biological processes. It identifies and attempts to kill tumor cells and pathogens. It detects viruses and other agents. This
system of the body distinguishes the organism's healthier tissues and cells in order for it to function properly.
It
protects the organisms from infections with layered defenses. It has two types of defense mechanisms; innate immune system
and an adaptive . Pathogens (bacteria and viruses), physical barriers prevent them from entering the organism. If a pathogen
makes its way through the physical barriers, the innate system provides a non-specific response immediately.
All plants
and animals have innate immune systems. If the pathogens evade the innate response successfully, a third layer of protection
(which vertebrates possess), the adaptive system is activated. The immune system adapts when it recognizes an infection from
the pathogen. The adaptive system adapted its response. The response is improved and retained in the form of an immunological
memory. The pathogen has been eliminated and it allows the adaptive immune system to respond faster and have stronger attack
each time this specific pathogen is encountered.
If the immune system has disorders, it can lead to disease. Immunodeficiency
diseases and disorders occur when the immune system is less active and responsive than normal. The results could be life threatening
with recurring life threatening infections.
There are ways to boost an overactive or hyperactive immune system. Also
ways to help your immunity:
1. Transfer factor is the theory that immunity information in the human body can be transferred
from cell to cell.
A cell has the uncanny ability to teach the immune system to recognize viruses and bacteria that
cause harm to the human body. The immune system's primary job is to fight off the harmful bacteria and viruses. The molecules
from the transfer factor create a memory of the past pathogens that were in the body. It maintains the effectiveness of the
immune system.
2. Getting plenty of sleep can help your immunity. Your body needs to restore and replenish itself.
Getting plenty hours of sleep will make you healthier and build your immune system stronger at the same time.
3. Exercising.
Keeping your body physically active can make your body's defenses stronger. It may also reduce feelings of stress in your
life. Too much stress can sometimes leave you feeling anxious and nervous and release too much cortisol which can wreak havoc
on your system.
4. Keep your body hydrated with plenty of water. Carry a bottle of water everywhere you go so you won't
get dehydrated.
5. Keep an eye on your alcohol and caffeine consumption. Your body reacts differently when it is consumed
with these products. Try to drink caffeine and alcohol in moderation.
6. Eat a well balance meal. Follow the food
pyramid and try to consume all of the levels of the food pyramid.
The body is an amazing system that offers you a
tremendous support system to keep sickness at bay. We can do simple things to keep that system happy and prepared.
These
statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure
or prevent any disease.
Author's Bio
Lori Matthews
studies health, nutrition and wellness. She enjoys writing articles on health for both people and pets. Please visit immune support with transfer factor for more information.
Abdominal Breathing: Fire Up Your Immune System
by
Bob Ellal
You’re in a convenience store, examining a can of Spam
in one of the aisles. Suddenly a hooded man bursts through the door, pulls out a .45, and waves it in the cashier’s
face demanding the contents of the cash register. You begin breathing shallowly, from the chest, as fear for you own life
pervades you. Thoughts pinball through your mind: Will he shoot the cashier—and then me? Am I to die in a convenience
store of all places? Where are the police?
The cashier complies; the robber bolts through the door. Your breathing
slows and deepens and the thoughts in your mind slow. You become calm.
This scenario illustrates the connection between
breathing and the mind: Breathe shallowly and quickly, and your mind generates a frenzy of thoughts. Breathe deeply, from
the abdomen, and the thoughts slow and become manageable.
What has happened when you perceived danger was your body
reacted with the fight-or-flight response—it’s kicked in the sympathetic nervous system, one of the two components
of the autonomic nervous system. Your body floods with adrenaline from your adrenal glands as you prepare to confront the
threat to your life.
As the threat passes you breathe deeply and the parasympathetic nervous system becomes engaged:
heart rate slows, blood pressure returns to normal, adrenal glands stop pumping adrenaline into your system. Normality—you
are calm and your body can return to normal operations, such as digestion.
The fight-or-flight response is vital for
short-term situations—such as when our distant ancestors confronted deadly threats from saber-tooth tigers and immense
short-snout bears. But if you are confronting a serious disease or condition, such as cancer or PTSD, your fear will trigger
this response continuously, flooding your body with adrenaline and other chemicals such as cortisol. The effect? Your body
cannot heal properly, as these substances compromise the immune system.
The solution? Learn to breathe deeply, expanding
your abdomen and filling the lungs from the bottom up. You not only kick in the parasympathic nervous system but also provide
much more oxygen to the blood, helping your immune system to operate at a high level.
And there’s another tremendous
benefit from abdominal breathing: The lymphatic system, which relies on respiration and muscular action to work (it has no
pump, such as the heart pumping the blood), will work much more efficiently. The lymphatic system contains vital elements
of the immune system, such as the bone marrow—the blood factory—and the thymus gland, which kicks out T-cells,
the body’s natural killer cells which destroy cancer and other invaders.
The lymphatic system does many things,
such as producing lymphocytes that fight disease and removing toxins from the cells. If you are fighting cancer or another
serious condition or disease, abdominal breathing is a crucial element in helping you win your fight.
I learned deep,
abdominal breathing as the first step in my practice of qigong (chee-gung, which means energy work—Chinese internal
energy exercises). It is also a vital component in other meditative and energy arts such as yoga, tai chi chuan and transcendental
meditation.
You can learn abdominal breathing by expanding your abdomen as you breathe, focusing on filling the lungs
with air from the bottom up. A good way to test if you’re doing it correctly is to lie on the floor and place a box
of Kleenex on your stomach. As you breathe, the box will rise and fall with the motion of your stomach.
If you are
fighting cancer, as I have many times years ago, you may be too tired from chemotherapy and/or radiation to do standing or
moving qigong, tai chi chuan or yoga. But you can always lie down and breathe deeply, and still stimulate your immune system.
It worked for me: four bouts of bone cancer, two bone marrow transplants between 1991 and 1996—and I’ve been clear
ever since. Thirteen years of good health. I can’t catch a cold.
Author's Bio
Bob Ellal is a four-time cancer survivor--clear 13 years. He has been practicing
qigong--specifically standing post meditation--for the past 15 years. He is a student of Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming of Boston, internationally
known master of kung fu, tai chi chuan, and qigong.
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Tai Chi Rejuvenates Immunity In Older Adults Against Shingles
by Gargi Nath
According to researches, Tai Chi, a Chinese exercise that uses
both mind and body, can aid in preventing the shingles virus by increasing the body’s immunity against the VZV or varicella-zoster
virus. Aside from preventing it, Tai Chi can also boost the body’s response to the vaccine for old adults. VZV is the
virus that is responsible for diseases like shingles and chickenpox.
According to researches, Tai Chi, a Chinese exercise
that uses both mind and body, can aid in preventing the shingles virus by increasing the body’s immunity against the
VZV or varicella-zoster virus. Aside from preventing it, Tai Chi can also boost the body’s response to the vaccine for
old adults. VZV is the virus that is responsible for diseases like shingles and chickenpox.
Understanding Shingles
Shingles
is a kind of viral infection that causes debilitating rashes that are quite painful. It appears as blisters that can be seen
at the middle of the person’s back turning to one side of his chest and overwhelming the breastbone. Parts of your body
like the scalp, neck and face are also affected. Shingles can be excruciatingly painful.
One way to identify the disease
is to pinpoint where it all started because shingles usually originates at one side of the body. Shingles is a sort of long
term “side-effect” of chickenpox. It is because after having chickenpox, the virus within the body becomes inactive.
After years, it gets to be reactivated as shingles.
Shingles is not a life-threatening situation but can be severely
painful and can lead to a complication in which the skin remains painful and is very sensitive to even to the softest touch.
It remains at that state until all blisters are gone. This kind of condition lasts for months or worse, years.
Shingles
is the common for adults over 50 that is why it is important the old people be protected from the virus or have in them the
prescribed tool to fight the virus out of their lives. For those who have not been affected with the virus, but is susceptible
to, better be more cautious and maintain the immune system on a healthy level.
What the public needs to know
Although
vaccination can be an effective method to prevent acquiring shingles, it can only last long. But if the vaccination for shingles
is combined with Tai Chi, the results are promising. Good news is, out of 5 persons who have undergone chickenpox, only one
person will get shingles sometime in their 50s. Shingles will be very dangerous for older people.
Researchers and doctors
said that, although more studies should be further enhanced, it is proven that Tai Chi combined with immunization was made
effective as an intervention to prevent the increase of the painful condition. The positive effects of Tai Chi helped researchers
determine that the height of response by the human body is incredible.
Study has it that Tai Chi alone can increase
the patient’s immunity to the virus same with the outcome of ordinary vaccine. The moment Tai Chi is combined with the
vaccine itself, it produced a significant result with a high level of immunity amounting to over 40%. Studies also show that
compared to those that only acquired the vaccine, Tai Chi’s effects are doubled in the increase.
Aside from the
increased level of immunity, Tai Chi also manifested remarkable outcome that include decrease in body pain, improved physical
functioning, mental health and vitality. Groups who engaged in Tai Chi showed a decline in the symptoms of the disease’s
severity.
Therefore, for those who are experiencing or knows someone who is at their golden years, it is better to
advise them to engage in Tai Chi.
Author's Bio
I am Gargi Nath from Kolkata,India.Please visit
my website at overview-of-tai-chi.blogspot.com for more medical treatments using TaiChi.
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