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Explainer: how does the immune system learn?
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Our immune system
The immune system does an outstanding job most of the time. To provide such excellent protection against bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi, our immune system must continuously learn.
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Innate immunity
Innate immunity cells quickly respond to invaders and can deal with over 90% of infections.
These cells recognize invaders by looking for broadly shared patterns, such as common molecules on the surface of most bacteria.
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Adaptive immunity
When the innate response fails to deal with an invasion, the adaptive immunity takes over. The adaptive cell looks for a specific pattern. It could be a particular protein on the surface of a virus or bacteria.
There are millions of adaptive immune cells, each to recognize a different pattern. When they recognize an invader, they multiply to form an army to kill it. This process can take a week when a new invader infects us. After the invader is removed, the adaptive cells that recognized it are kept as specialized memory cells.
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Always learning
Innate immune cells are changed by previous infections or vaccination through trained immunity.
Because innate learning changes innate immune cells, infection by one invader can change how the immune system deals with a completely different invader.
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Environmental factors
Studies suggest the immune learning is strongly affected by environmental factors, like diet, lifestyle, surroundings, and previous infections.
But this provides hope that we can improve immunity and reduce disease through environmental factors.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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False Remedies
Much like a hundred years ago when Spanish Flu killed millions, questionable medicinal concoctions and folk remedies have surfaced across the world, claiming to boost the immune system.
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Immunity-Boosting Is A Myth
Pills, superfoods, and other wellness habits do not boost our immunity as the 'symptoms' which we get when infected are in fact measures taken by our immune system to respond to the foreign pathogen.
Many allergies that people have are a misguided response from the immune system that treat harmless foreign bodies as harmful pathogens.
The Symptomatic Treatment
While over-the-counter medicines provide us with a so-called ‘relief’ by suppressing our fever, runny nose and other ‘symptoms’, these are in fact necessary for the body to get well. The symptoms we want to be stopped are not our enemy:
- The mucus is helping flush out the pathogen.
- The fever(heat) makes the body impalpable for it to survive and replicate.
- The body pain is actually the inflammatory chemicals in your veins, guiding the immune cells like an air traffic controller.
- The brain is provided with a signal to slow down and let the body recover.
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Our Immunity
Immunity is defined as the set of defenses, that our bodies possess, which has the role to protect us against pathogens and to fight against infections.
Active immunity
By active immunity, we generally understand the resistance that our immune system shows against pathogens.
By the so-called 'clonal selection', enough antibodies are built up in order to help our organism fight off colds or different diseases.
Passive immunity
Passive immunity refers to the creation of immunity by introducing antibodies from outside the organism, such as the injection of antivenom after having been bitten by a snake.
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Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day
Everyone has a different requirement for water. Temperature, humidity, size, age, gender and activity have an influence on your fluid needs.
Instead, drink when you are thirsty.
Eggs Harm Your Heart
Eggs have a lot of cholesterol compared to other foods. Although cholesterol in the blood is strongly related to heart disease, eating cholesterol is weakly associated with raising the cholesterol levels in your blood.
Eggs have other heart-protecting properties and eating it probably won't harm your heart.
Cancer or Alzheimer’s From Antiperspirant
- A chain email in the 1990s was responsible for the false belief that antiperspirant was raising the risk of breast cancer.
- When researchers found higher ratios of aluminum in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, aluminum in antiperspirant was suspect. But it seems aluminum in antiperspirant is hardly absorbed by your skin.