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Developing Immunity is the best way of keeping good health (Dr.A.Sreekumar Menon)

Published on 20 May, 2020
Developing Immunity is the best way of keeping good health (Dr.A.Sreekumar Menon)
What is immunity and how does it work?

How do we care our health these days? when we fall sick we go to a Doctor and take medicines, which he/she prescribes and get cured of illness. Till we fall sick, we do not think about our health. We do not think whether it is possible to prevent falling sick and remain healthy. With repeated treatment, effectiveness of medicine decreases. One may have also to be under the support of medicine life long, affecting his quality of life.

Another better way to look after our good health is by building up immunity or body’s capacity to fight against diseases/disease causing micro-organisms.  We should know about immunity, if we want to try this method consciously .Keeping this need in mind, attempt is made here to discuss what is immunity and how it works in our body and what are immunity boosters. When the immunity system of our body fails to do its job, bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and even cancer cells will attack our body. Thus our immune system is on guard and saves our body all the time. It is like Defense  force in a country which is always vigilant and protect the country from foreign invasions. Immune system in our body consists of vast network of white blood cells, chemicals and organs working together. They recognize millions of pathogens entering our body and destroy them before they can injure healthy cells of our body, damage vital organs or take away nutrition meant for our body. Immune system is very complex. It is not a single organ like heart or lungs. Immune system works like a team which passes the task of protection from part of it to other part each causes further weakening of the actions of pathogens. Thus it is our immune system which saves our life every moment. When it fails, pathogens take hold of our body. destroys the cells’ Immune system in our body does not consists of a single organ like heart or lungs of human body and then organs. It is a large network of white blood cells ,chemicals and organs working together recognizing millions of pathogens trying to enter our body all the time and destroys them before they injure our healthy cells ,damage vital organs and  use the nutrients meant for our body . It is like a relay team passing the act of fighting against invaders, each responsible for further weakening of the hosts. They collectively protect body from invaders. The job they do is marvelous. Let me take you for a brief tour to immune system so that you know how they all do the job together and help you to gain better understanding of what we can do to help it to do its job better.

Skin

 We may think that our skin is  thine and soft. But actually it is tough enough to serve as body’s primary defense against roving Bacteria and Virus. Certain cells on the skin wear out always. This dead cells is deposited on the top of the skin. Though it is thin layer, it is tough. It consists of Protein called Keratin, which is difficult to break down. As a result, it is impossible for infectious agents to penetrate skin., except when this layer is unhealthy or damaged. There are hairs on the skin. They stop germs before they land on the skin. It helps to keep out andmicroorganisms. Germs which escape this, land on a film of sweat and oil, acidic chemicals and beneficial bacteria present in that hold back hostile organisms. Some immune calls also stand as guard. For example, Langerhans’ cells lie in the epidermis waiting to swallow unwelcome microbes and alert other immune agents to swing into action.

A wider cover of Protection.

Mucous membrane protects eyes.  Thine  surfaces coated with secretions fight germs. These membranes are found at openings in the body like eyes, nose, mouth, reproductive tract, surfaces not protected by skin. The thick sticky film produced by mucous membrane traps bacteria, virus, dirt particles, fungus, pollen grains almost any particles that tries to enter body. We swallow mix of mucus and debris that accumulates in oral and naval cavities. When it reaches stomach acid and Pancreatic enzymes destroy most of the pathogens .. Those are expelled out by coughing or sneezing also

There is a layer of mucus membrane covering lungs. This membrane which produces mucus has useful functions. It helps lungs not to be dry. Then there is hair like protrusions on the surface of lungs called Celia. They are tiny hair like projections. Mucus membrane gets additional help from Celia to sweep particles towards nostrils or mouth. There are airways in the lungs. Oxygen while inhaling gets into lungs and at Alveoli, carbon dioxide which blood returning from body carries is exchanged and blood is purified. This blood is pumped into heart from where it is pumped into the whole body.  The airways in the lungs should not be block by debris or for any other reason like these two organs get affected by pathogens like corona virus.  This causes labored breathing, which is one of the very common symptoms of corona virus 19 disease. As pointed out in my earlier Article, corona virus attacks mucous membrane and Celia and thus affects normal functioning of Lungs. It is a primarily a respiratory illness. It attacks only lungs and no other organs directly. When lungs which is a major organ gets affected, obviously all other organs suffer. The above outer most parts of the lungs guard the whole body.

Antigen &Antibody

Signaling

The Antigen molecules cover surface of each cell say 1.3 trillion cells found in human body. This detects   bio-materials belonging to the body or those inimical to the body. If it is body friendly, the message it puts out is’ self, not attack ‘. If it is harmful foreign body, the message is ‘invader, defend against it ‘. Thus immune system receives signals. Sometimes working of this may go wrong or may not function properly. At that time, it cannot distinguish whether the material landed on the cell is friendly or hostile. It wrongly diagnoses those in the cells as foreign bodies harmful to cell and gives wrong signals. Then the immune system start attacking the normal cells themselves. In other words, we literally become our own enemies. There is a saying that we are our own friends as well as enemies. This appears to be a truism even in the case of biological process designed by creator. There are many diseases like Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, Psoriasis, Asthma and so on. This error in the functioning of immune system happens due to some genetic defects. /defects in the functioning of the cell. Drugs are now available for this auto-immune reactions ..

Antibodies

Once an Antigen (foreign body in chemical form injurious to human health} is detected Leucocytes, many millions of white blood cells   are activated and they fight against the invader. Lymphocytes are another part of immune system which are present in the blood. They are specialized white blood cells. B-lymphocytes make proteins called ‘Antibodies’ which recognize antigen (outside enemy-invader, harmful organism/pathogen) and bind to it and send signals to other immune cells to launch massive attack to the enemy, killed it or remove offending substance as quickly as possible. The memory of this B cells is amazing.  They can recognize Antigen which they identified once later when they invade. That is the reason one will not get small pox again if one   got it once in his life time. Thus immunity is lifelong. This characteristic is taken advantage in developing vaccination which saves millions and which is one of the success stories of modern Allopathic medicine.

Antigens ability to diagnose whether what is present in our body is that of the body and helpful or foreign body which is harmful is appreciable. But this quality stands in the way of organ transplant.  The body rejects organs that does not belong to it. Thus, advantage becomes disadvantage. So in the case of organ transplantation, immune -suppressants medicines will have to be taken lifelong. These are the day when organ transplants either from cadaver or from other human beings is very common. Genetic matching is done to meet this problem, though it not applicable in all cases.

T- Cells

 T-cells in the immune system organize and direct other white blood cells to fight against infection via bio-chemical reaction. The working of these cells are different from disease resistance by Anti-bodies. There are two types of T cells:  1. Helper T cells and 2 Cytotoxic T cells.

 Helper T cells or CD4Tcells react to certain Antigens and secrete Cytokine, soluble protein  help other immune cells like B –cells to rid of the body of pathogens entering the body. Cytotoxic T cells also called CD8 Cells destroys cells infected with virus and other germs and thus prevent spreading of infection to other cells. It stops pathogens from replicating.  Coronavirus19, as pointed out replicates rapidly beyond imagination, when it g enters human cell/body.

Phagocytes.

Phagocytes third type of immune cells are eaters of germs. They swallow everything unwanted or harmful from dust to microorganisms and viruses. There are two types of viz Neutrophils which circulate in the blood  enter the infected tissues Macrophages present in healthy tissues wait for invaders to show up They capture, cover them up and break them down. Microphage’s function is specialized. They direct large number of immune cells including Neutrophils to infected area. Once they come into action, their action is strong, though they are short lived. They die during fight and they result in the form of puss. They also produce chemicals such as ‘Interferons’ which have anti-viral and anti-cancer properties Now these chemical compound is manufactured in large quantities and used to treat patients with cancer, blood disorders, Immunodeficiency diseases like Aids and in patients receiving bone marrow transplants.

Natural Killer Cells (NKCells).

 This is large circulating immune system containING toxic granules which kill pathogens. They can kill germs from the moment they are born and need not wait till they mature. Viral infections stimulate production of NKCells. They hold fort until cytotoxic T Cells come to the scene. Granulocytes, another type of Immune cells contains toxic granules. They mainly fight parasites.

The types of specialized immune cells described above come under a generic name white blood cells. There are large number of these cells in the blood of a healthy person. These white blood cells count is used as indicator of the health of immune system. 4000 to 11000 cells per microliter of blood indicate normal to strong immune system. Higher the count stronger the immune system. There are tests to determine the count of specific immune cells such as Tcells . and others described above. These immune cells are present in different internal organs of our body. The following are the organs where we find these cells and they function in the following ways:

The Thymus Gland.

It is situated behind breast bone. Here young T cells multiply and learn to diagnose material which is a part of the body or benign ones and pathogens/Antigens. The working of this cell is yet to be understood.

The Liver.

 It is positioned in front of stomach at the top of abdominal cavity Though it’s functions are yet to be understood fully, it changes harmful chemicals like such as poisons, pesticides and other pollutants into harmless products to be removed via bile or and urine. It also helps immune system by removing food and microbial products moving from intestine, which otherwise would stir up. immune system enormously.

The Lymph Vessels.

It is a system in the body which circulates Lymph. A yellowish fluid throughout the body. It is about a quarter of the total weight of immune system in the body. It is full of T-Cells that battle infection.

The Bone Marrow.

  Core portion of long bones like upper arm produces B-Cells, Natural killer cells, phagocytes through a process called ‘haematopotesis’.

The spleen

 On the fist shaped small organ just above abdomen llymphocytes aggregate like a filter. Where worn out blood cells and foreign materials are filtered from the blood. It also activates some immune cells. It stores Red blood cells. Though it is not a vital organ, it’s removal or lose due to sickle cell anemia, makes body more vulnerable for infection.

Lymph Nodes.

There are lymph nodes, where lymph vessels cluster in the neck, chest, armpits, abdomen and groin.  These lymph nodes serve as hub where lymphocytes gather to fight infection.

Immunoglobins.

 These are antibodies belonging to large molecules. There are several of them like M,G,A,E,D .Each plays different roles. During pregnancy many antibodies like IgE or Ig G are produced that guard infection like flu pass from mother to fetus via placenta. Giving first immunity to child from infections. Colostrum first milk mother produces after delivery contains Antibodies Specially IgA which shields mucous membranes from harm.  and prevention of babies from many other diseases, when the immune system of the baby is yet to start functioning well. Thus it is nature’s wonderful protection.

How do we get sick when our Immune system is on guard?

 There is a gap between the time a microbe enters the body and the time the immune system conquers it.  During this interval, the micro-organism multiplies fast., killing cells and flooding blood with toxins. The symptoms like, watery nose, coughing, sore throat etc.  appear due to the effects these toxins. These are also body’s signaling that is active Even after the immune system kills microorganisms, the symptoms may persist some time. These may also act as defense mechanism. For instance, coughing brings out the foreign bodies.  When the immune system invades microorganisms, the temperature of the body goes up from normal. other words, high fever when covid19 infects body is signaling that body’s immune system is combating with the virus. The moment it succeeds; temperature will return normal. Sweating while Temperature comes down is the natural mechanism of the body to cool down body temperature. The debris collected in the body is also thrown out along with sweat. Normal temperature of human body is 98.4 Fahrenheit ,37.5 centigrade F. It shows body’s energy /metabolism level.  If metabolism is low the temperature will be lower than that.  Those having low metabolism may feel weak and may get tired easily.

When the body temperature is above normal, we call it fever which will follow lack of feelings of wellness.  Though temperature above normal   is the byproduct of immune system’s working, high temperature for long is harmful to the body, as cells contain lot of fluids. At the same time, if we bring down temperature fast, it might affect efficiency of working of immune system’s attack of the microorganisms. The microorganisms may get upper hand. Normally, when microorganism infects our body we do not just leave immune system to attack and kill it. We take Antibiotics which will kill if the microorganism is Bacteria, as per Doctor’s prescription. Here the Antibiotics   give additional support to immune system. Again, not in all cases we find strong immune system   due to various reasons which will be discussed later.  It is to be understood that too much medication will weaken body’s ability to build up immune system.  Using too many such things as, Antibacterial tooth paste, soap, shaving cream, after shave lotions using sanitizers, and so on will weaken immune system, as they do not give chance to the body to   develop healthy immune system. Immune system is developed when body is exposed to microorganisms present outside. This is the reason we find workers working hard under hard working conditions are less susceptible to diseases. This does not mean that we should allow the body to cure itself whenever one falls sick. There should not be too much drugging. self-medication that is taking medicines from across the counter without Doctor’s prescription just going by symptoms should be avoided at any cost. It may do more harm than good. At the same time, once symptoms are noticed one should seek medical help from a Medical Practitioner  as early as possible and not after trying bout all home remedies  and worsening the conditions . It is easy to cure any disease with minimum medication at the time of onset of disease. If one goes to the hospital after the condition worsens, then too many strong lifesaving medicines will have to be pushed to the body, which may have unimaginable side effects.

Vaccination.

Vaccination is the first pioneering discovery and the forerunner of all subsequent discoveries made by Edward Jenner, a British Doctor during 18th century to use small pox vaccination to prevent small pox disease. It is to stimulate immune mechanism artificially by injecting a very small dose of live or killed microorganism in into human skin which would stimulate production of Antibodies capable of killing the microorganisms responsible for different virus diseases.  It has become part of preventive medicine. Preventing a disease is better than treating it after one gets disease. At present vaccines for many virus diseases like Influenza which is caused by a different less harmful strain of coronavirus, pneumonia and infection of blood caused by Pneumococcal virus, Hepatitis –B, causing  liver failure and cancer of liver, Hepatitis B  to prevent liver failure, Hepatitis A to shield inflammation caused by virus ,Tetanus,Dphtheria to prevent lock jaw and infection of the throat that can damage  Lungs and heart,Measles,Mumps,Rubella to prevent three categories of viral infections that causes birth defects or death .Polio to prevent infection of the muscles causing  paralysis of libs . are available. When a new virus disease appears, scientists frantically try to discover vaccines. This is what is going on now in all the scientific laboratories round the world to prevent spreading of covid19. The world is in its grip now. For Viral infections, vaccines are more popular than drugs unlike in the case of diseases due to Bacteria, Fungus etc. Let us hope Scientific world comes out with it soon, before covid19takes heavy toll of human lives. As either Vaccine or drug is yet to be discovered and used, we have to rely on other measures available such as physical distancing and symptomatic treatment of acute respiratory syndromes, ways to be adopted to boost natural immunity etc. in the case of covid19 infection.

How does the so called’ social distancing ‘as precaution now widely recommended work to prevent speed of covid19?. A better expression of social distancing is ‘Physical distancing. People should avoid making physical contacts with each other. This is how it works. The virus should enter the body of the host via mouth or nostrils.  The secretions from the body of infected person comes in contact with other persons they get infected. While coughing or sneezing, the virus comes out through droplets (minute particles suspending in the air) enter air or it deposited on the surfaces with which infected person was in touch with. so healthy persons get it through their inhalation of the air contain virus or if his body comes in touch with surfaces on which virus is deposited through their skins. Corona virus lives only for a short time once it comes out of the infected person and stays outside say for 2 hrs. or so. After that time, it dies. So there is no contact by other person during this time, it cannot transmit. This is the reason for recommending to stay apart by at least 1 meter. and also recommending sanitary hygiene of washing hands etc.  Once the corona virus comes in contact with a host persons and enter body, it’s multiplication is fastest, beyond imagination. It is like the whole army invading the target. Such isolation, we see is recommended to ward off all communicable diseases., as it is one of the best ways to prevent infection, though this practice may look simple. When coronavirus has no contacts, it will die a natural death.  Corona virus has oily (Lipid) coating as its protective cover. Soap used for wishing, having detergent action will destroy this cover. Virus devoid of outer cover will die/cannot be active. This is the reason washing hands with soap is recommended. It is very cheap and very effective method of keeping away from corona virus. Hand sanitizers are also recommended. Sanitizer to kill virus should contain at least 60 percent Alcohol. One should check whether Hand sanitizer they buy contain 60 percent Alcohol., before buying and using using it. Similarly wearing face makes are recommended. Mask means not just covering face with anything like a piece of cloth. The size of coronavirus is 0.06 micron, very minute. The masks we wear should be made up of such materials which can filter a micro material as small as 0,06 microns, otherwise it does not serve its purpose. The masks available in the market are for use against dust, fumes etc. which are not larger than 0.1 micron, those masks are effective in prevent cross infection from corona virus. So the best way is that we should not come in physical contacts with others and those who show preliminary symptoms like dry cough, sore throat, fever etc. should stay in isolation and should wear proper masks, if they have to come out at all when absolutely needed. So wearing proper masks is to keep oneself safe from getting infection and prevent oneself infecting other persons., which makes prevention easier.

The action of corona virus on the body and counteraction of our immune system is very complex and astounding. In my earlier article on how corona virus affects our body, I discussed that corona virus affects mucous membrane and cilia of Lungs and that cytokine, of immune system signals invasion of the microorganism to release Immune cells. It is discovered that T cells sends strong signals several times more than required to kill the pathogen and this causes inflammation of the lungs which leads to other complications. Thus we find that body is subjected not only to assault of virus but it also suffers   due to excess immune response, as cytokine produces Tells far exceeding need. In other words, it happens when the working of signaling mechanism goes   out of gear. It is quite possible that the part of immune system, cytokine, signaling mechanism is still in the process of learning how to cope with corona virus. Corona virus, which normally affects animal population seem s to have learned the skill of getting into human cell and make use of its RNA for its replication. This must have happened due to handling of wild animals for food unknowing including those affected by virus for a long time. Corona virus got adapted to human cell as it’s host. As time passes we find that man intrudes into forest s habitat of wild animals by denuding forests and consuming more and more wild animals. When there is depletion forests and animals on which corona viruses strive, they have to seek alternative habitat. Because of close association of man with them while handling them in butchering stations, they get human cells conveniently and they mutate so that they can l flourish on human cells or can make human beings as they alternate pray. It is high time for man to realize this possible fact and stop intruding into the world of animals, not only to prevent attack of such pathogens, to fight against which our body does not know and should learn all the time, giving them chance thrive in human system. In other words, it is new experience to our body to face such enemies/pathogens.

We find human trials with medicine used for sepsis called ‘Sepsivac’ manufactured by Cedilla Pharmaceuticals   is conducted tried with corona virus affected patients to suppress excess immune reaction, which causes inflammation which proves to be dangerous and to find out efficacy of that drug. Antibody would have been created in the blood of covid19 affected patients who recovered from the diseases. Indian council of Medical Research has granted permission to laboratories to test whether the blood plasma from recovered patients can be used as antidote for coronavirus. One Research Institute to which permission for human trial misgiven is by Indian Council of Medical Research is Rajeev Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology, Trivandrum under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.

Another one on human trial is simultaneous vaccination of B.C.G Vaccine on the one hand and an injection with Chloroquine, drug used for Malaria, which contains inflammation in U.S and other countries. Scientists are working on the discovery of quick diagnostic tools which can be used for mass screening and which are cheap including experiments in the field of Molecular Biology and Medicine. Pfizer Labs having global network are working on the discovery of drugs effective for this disease. Thus work is going on war footing in the scientific labs round the world to discover both preventive measures like vaccine and drugs.

In retrospect, in this Article attempt has been made to discuss the nature and function of Immune system in our body which guard against diseases and keeps our body healthy. In part 2 of this article. how to boost immune system of the body will be discussed .


Developing Immunity is the best way of keeping good health (Dr.A.Sreekumar Menon)
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