Why Is Immune System Essential For Our Health?

Why is immune system essential for our health? The immune system actually is made up of some special organs, chemicals and cells that fights to infection (microbes).

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What is immune system?

Do you know our Immune system is known to have 12 different jobs? You won’t believe it, but we are always under attack by harmful and deadly microorganisms such as viruses fungi and bacteria.

Therefore, our body has developed a high-tech super advanced defense mechanism called the immune system to protect us from this unwanted infectious guest and keep you safe and healthy. However, it is vital to know that the immune system is not just one part but also a combination of tissues cells and organs. Some of which are lymph nodes, lymph vessels, lymphocytes, white blood cells, bone marrow, skin and much more.

That joint forces to protect us and keep our life in this evilly germy world. Undoubtedly, white blood cells also called leukocytes play an essential role in the immune system by continually scanning the tissues and organs for any suspicious signs.

How does our immune system work?

Why is immune system essential for our health, and how it works? To understand how does our immune system work? We will lead by an example. If a mosquito lands on your arm, injects its chemicals into your skin, and begins to feed. You wouldn’t even know it was there, if not for the red lump that appears, accompanied by a telltale itch.

It’s a nuisance, but that bump is an important signal that you’re protected by your immune system, your body’s major safeguard against infection, illness, and disease. This system is a vast network of cells, tissues, and organs that coordinate your body’s defenses against any threats to your health.

Without it, you’d be exposed to billions of bacteria, viruses, and toxins that could make something as minor as a paper cut or a seasonal cold fatal. The immune system relies on millions of defensive white blood cells, also known as leukocytes, which originate in our bone marrow.

These cells migrate into the bloodstream and the lymphatic system, a network of vessels that helps clear bodily toxins and waste. Our bodies are teeming with leukocytes: there are between 4,000 and 11,000 in every microliter of blood.

As they move around, leukocytes work like security personnel, constantly screening the blood, tissues, and organs for suspicious signs. This system mainly relies on cues called antigens.

These molecular traces on the surface of pathogens and other foreign substances betray the presence of invaders. As soon as the leukocytes detect them, it takes only minutes for the body’s protective immune response to kick in.

Threats to our bodies are hugely variable, so the immune response has to be equally adaptable. That means relying on many different types of leukocytes to tackle threats in different ways.

Why is immune system essential for our health. Despite this diversity, we classify leukocytes in two main cellular groups, which coordinate a two-pronged attack. First, phagocytes trigger the immune response by sending macrophages and dendritic cells into the blood.

As these circulate, they destroy any foreign cells they encounter, simply by consuming them. That allows phagocytes to identify the antigen on the invaders they just ingested and transmit this information to the second major cell group orchestrating the defense, the lymphocytes.

A group of lymphocyte cells called T-cells goes in search of infected body cells and swiftly kill them off. Meanwhile, B-cells and helper T-cells use the information gathered from the unique antigens to start producing special proteins called antibodies.

Each antigen has a unique, matching antibody that can latch onto it like a lock and key, and destroy the invading cells. B-cells can produce millions of these, which then cycle through the body and attack the invaders until the worst of the threat is neutralized.

While all of this is going on, familiar symptoms, like high temperatures and swelling, are actually processes designed to aid the immune response. A warmer body makes it harder for bacteria and viruses to reproduce and spread because they’re temperature-sensitive.

And when body cells are damaged, they release chemicals that make fluid leak into the surrounding tissues, causing swelling. That also attracts phagocytes, which consume the invaders and the damaged cells. Usually, an immune response will eradicate a threat within a few days.

It won’t always stop you from getting ill, but that’s not its purpose. Its actual job is to stop a threat from escalating to dangerous levels inside your body. And through constant surveillance over time, the immune system provides another benefit: it helps us develop long-term immunity. When B- and T-cells identify antigens, they can use that information to recognize invaders in the future.

Why is immune system essential for our health. So, when a threat revisits, the cells can swiftly deploy the right antibodies to tackle it before it affects any more cells. That’s how you can develop immunity to certain diseases, like chickenpox. It doesn’t always work so well.

Some people have autoimmune diseases, which trick the immune system into attacking the body’s own perfectly healthy cells. No one knows exactly what causes them, but these disorders sabotage the immune system to varying degrees, and underlie problems like arthritis, Type I diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

For most individuals, however, a healthy immune system will successfully fight off an estimated 300 colds and innumerable other potential infections over the course of a lifetime. Without it, those threats would escalate into something far more dangerous. So the next time you catch a cold or scratch a mosquito bite, think of the immune system.

Microbial infection and The immune system

Why is immune system essential for our health. Our immune system always keeps a track record of each and every microbe it has ever defeated, in the types of white blood cells (B- and T-lymphocytes) known as the memory cells. That means it can easily recognize and destroy the microbe quickly as soon as it enters the body again, before it can multiply and make you feel more sick.

Some of the infections, like the flu and a common cold, have to be fought multiple times because; so many different viruses and strains of the same type of virus may cause these illnesses. Catching the cold or a flu from one virus does not give you the immunity against the others.

Important Parts of the immune system

White blood cells
Thymus.
Complement system
Spleen
Lymphatic system
Antibodies
Bone marrow

Why is immune system essential for our health

Our immune system is very essential for our daily survival. Our lifestyle may affect how well it can protect us from viruses, germs, and chronic illnesses. By replacing, the bad health habits with good ones can help to keep it healthy. Now we are going to tell some of the tips toward strengthening our immunity.

Tips for better immunity-

Have a good sleep –

Sleep and the immunity are closely linked. During the sleep, our immune system releases proteins called cytokines. Certain cytokines need to increase when we have an infection or inflammation by any chance, or when we are under the stress. Sleep deprivation can decrease production of these protective cytokines. In the addition, infection-fighting antibodies and cells are reduced during periods when we don’t get a sound sleep.

It is generally recommended that adults should aim to get at least 7 or more hours of the sleep each night, whereas the teens need to aim for 8-10 hours and younger children and infants somewhere up to 14 hours.

Eat healthy Fats –

Having healthy fats like peanut oil, olive oil, canola oil and foods that are rich in omega-3s are found highly anti-inflammatory. Since the chronic inflammation can easily suppress our immune system, these fats may naturally combat our illnesses. A low-level inflammation is absolutely normal response to stress or the injury.

Avoid stress –

Stress plays a very important role to week our immune system. The stress suppresses it more, increasing the susceptibility to colds and other illnesses. It is very difficult to define the stress. Most of the scientists have been studying the relationship of stress and the immune function. However, do not study a sudden, short-lived stressor; rather, they try to study more constant and the frequent stressors known as chronic stress.

Eat more whole plant and healthy foods –

The whole plant foods are like fruits, nuts, vegetables, seeds, and legumes are high rich in nutrients and antioxidants. That can give us an upper hand against the harmful pathogens by boosting our immunity. By eating all the different colors of plant-based foods, we are more likely to get a strong and a varied nutritional profile. In fact, whole foods, plant-based diet generally contains the 64-times the amount of immunity-boosting antioxidants compared to the diet that includes meat and dairy products.

Regular exercise –

The regular exercise is one of the best pillars of a healthy living. Just like the healthy diet, daily exercise can contribute to a very healthy immune system. It also may contribute by promoting good circulation, which allows its cells and substances to move through our body freely and do their job efficiently.

Stop smoking –

Smoking can suppress it because the nicotine can lead to decreased neutrophilic phagocytic activity. It may also inhibit the release of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) thus impairing the ability of the neutrophils to kill pathogens. Within our lungs, smoking triggers a release of inflammatory agents that lead to a persistent chronic inflammatory syndrome.

Control the added sugar –

Whenever we eat a big dose of sugar, we temporarily damp down the ability of our immune system to respond to challenges. The effect lasts for several hours or a day. So, if we eat the sweets several times in a day, it can be perpetually operating at a distinct disadvantage to our immune system. Further eating sugary foods may produce excessive inflammation that serves no useful purpose but promotes the aging and disease.

Meditate Everyday –

It’s been found that the benefit we experience from the meditation is not strictly psychological. There is a clear and the quantifiable change in our bodies function. Meditation is one of the best and restorative activities that may provide a relief for our immune systems, easing the day-to-day stress of our body.

Conclusion-
Why is immune system essential for our health. Our immune system is very crucial for our survival, since it helps us to protect from myriads of the illnesses. Our lifestyle is very closely linked to our immunity. By adopting and following these tips mentioned in the article, we can surely enhance our immunity.

Disclaimer– Information provided in the article are gathered from the multiple sources from the internet. For any medical condition, you must visit to a specialist.

Why is immune system essential for our health?