Your Immune System

By Lakita Conley-Ware, PhD

Integrative Health Care

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Your Immune System

Your immune system is a somewhat complex part of your physiology and anatomy. It is designed to fight against illness and various types of infections. The immune system is composed of numerous parts of the anatomy: lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, appendix, bone marrow, spleen, thymus, macrophage cells, and lymphocytes. Your immune system creates proteins called antibodies. Antibodies help the body recognize and fight the contaminants caused by germs.

When the body responds to certain infectious states, the immune system creates antibodies to that state. Everyone has various levels of antibodies. Did you know there are different types of immunity?

• natural,
• active,
• passive
• vaccine-induced immunity

Natural Immunity: When your body fights off a germ that has infected your body. Your immune system reacts by producing antibodies to attack the germ. You might still feel ill during that time, but you recover. The immune system will respond if you are exposed again to that same germ in the future.

How long do antibodies to a germ last? It is hard to determine. However, there are blood tests that provide results on antibody presence. There is also a blood test called a titer level that will provide the level of particular antibodies at a point in time for a given infection. There have been reports of adults having high titers for variations of measles or mumps and their attack of these germs occurred in childhood.

Vaccine Immunity is exactly what is states. Your body is protected by the vaccine. Active Immunity is comparable to vaccine immunity.

Passive Immunity is when you receive antibodies from another source outside of your own immune system’s production. A natural type of passive immunity is the building of an infant’s immune system in the mother’s womb.

A healthy person naturally has a stronger immune system than someone that is not. That may seem like common knowledge, but people do not think about that when they have poor eating routines and other poor lifestyle habits.

There are also many food products in nature that can strengthen your immune system. Some are the following:

• Mushrooms (shiitake, matsutake, reishi)
• Garlic and onions 
• Various Herbs and berries such as turmeric, ginger, quercetin, elderberry and others have benefits for our immune system. Quercetin is a strong antioxidant found naturally in various vegetables.

You can additionally support your immune system by way of supplements that contain some of these natural immune support foods and herbs. Look for supplements that have documented research connected to those supplements regarding immunity. Avoid those that are composed with manufactured chemicals. Consult with a naturopathic health practitioner or consultant to get the most comprehensive knowledge about these types of supplements.