When you experience an allergic reaction , your immune system is responding to a harmless allergen that it perceives as a threat. Symptoms of an allergic reaction, which can range from ...

“Think of the immune system like the military, each part has a different role"

The first line of defense is the white blood cells, who are first to recognise pathogens and fight off infection. Lymphocytes, a specific type of white blood cell, work to allow the body to remember the invading ...

Though it may not be pleasant to think about, countless microbes live on and in our bodies, and they are actually necessary to maintain good health. 

“Good bacteria in our body provides us with nutrients we need and also provides a defense against bad bacteria and infection,” Tran says. A b...

Stress can lead to increased levels of cortisol , a steroid hormone that is important for overall function of our body; but too much of it can lead to a number of health problems, including decreased immunity. “The high level of steroid...

Autoimmune diseases affect about 8 percent of the population in the United States, making up the third most common category of disease after cancer and heart disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system destroys its own healthy tissues. In such cases, white blood cells in the body cannot distinguish between pathogens and the body...

Cleaning and disinfecting may seem like the best way to avoid infection, but this is a case where there can be too much of a good thing.

“When you make your environment so clean, you minimize so many foreign pathogens that you actually minimize the development of the immune system,” Tran sa...

Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies against a foreign invader without actually infecting the individual with the disease.

As a result, when the body encounters that infection in the future, it knows how to fight it off, and you face minimal symptoms.