Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Your Immune system YOUR ARMY




Your Immune System is your Defence Force, your system that keeps out invaders, captures the ones that get through the barriers that have been set up and kills and destroys them. It also uses our waste removal systems to optimally rid the body of battle debris after the battle is won, to leave it clean and pure to continue its life-sustaining functioning. If we could just look to nature, in its perfection, at species and ecosystems that control their own environment for eons under the most extreme conditions and bombardment of forces, we can find the answers. Like lowly ants, we must believe that we are created with the most advanced Defence System that is designed to tackle almost any attack, given the correct functioning of each part and the support of these contingency plans and not their opposition.



Firstly, we must regain faith in the way our bodies have been designed, have faith that all the checks and balances are in place and that the way our systems react to an attack is not self-destructive and inefficient, but rather self-preserving and efficient in its response. Understanding how our immune systems react to viruses, bacteria and other infectious critters is paramount in working with our body in bringing about optimal healing and immune system strengthening. Especially in children - they are the most vital, the most reactive and the immune system is at its most active and on alert, much more than in adults. Because children have not yet been exposed to the myriad of pathogens that reside among us, they have many more reactions than we do. Each attack by a new virus or bacteria MUST have a response by the army until the immune system can well recognise that same virus down the line and get on top of it easily, due to previous exposure and acquired immunity that has already been built up.



The strength of the immune system is paramount to our survival on this planet. Have you noticed how many young people are being diagnosed with cancers and other life-threatening illnesses? More and more children, more young adults and certainly more 20- and 30-something's. Cancer is no longer an old person's disease. After 60-odd years of cancer research and treatment there is still no "cure" in sight and certainly dwindling hope for the millions devastated by this scourge.



The answer is in the PREVENTION of cancer and other illnesses, not in the treatment, the answer is in the health and optimal functioning of the immune system and the support and enhancement of its functioning from birth, so that as these rogue agents that attempt their mutiny on our bodies are contained and destroyed before there are too many of them! The answer is in understanding how our bodies naturally respond to these things and working with it, even if it feels unpleasant, instead of stopping the body’s symptoms and healing responses. This results in the system becoming weaker and not able to operate properly. Down the line the illnesses get worse and worse...aren't all flu's getting "more severe" and "the most virulent strain seen to date", bacteria & viruses are getting stronger and our systems are getting weaker. It’s time to understand your body, take charge of your health and make your choice.



Did you know that we ALL have cancerous cells in our bodies? All the time? New ones every day? But our immune systems quickly detect and destroy them so that we are none the wiser. When the army has gone AWOL or there is only a skeleton staff available, these rogue agents form colonies and start to take residence in the neighbourhood and then integrate themselves into the community, utilising all the local resources at a much greater rate than is normal and then depleting the area of nutrients and starving the locals who actually know how to keep the town going! The remaining immune cells (dwindling local police stations) become less efficient and more sparse and less able to make a dent in the mafia-type community that has developed. Then some mafioso's decide to travel and set up colonies elsewhere, all over the place. You now have an aggressive cancer that rapidly destroys the rest of the nation!



Cancer is not the only illness that thrives in this low immune environment, EVERY ILLNESS THRIVES! Let's not get so bogged down on diagnosing exactly which illness, which bug, which sub-group, genus, species and category it fits into and the elusive specific drug that can kill just that particular one. Let's rather focus on what we've got, the system we have already been blessed with and optimising its functioning. Let's make sure we understand it, and work with it in achieving the same goal. Technically, if all our systems were assisted to function exactly as they were supposed to, instead of being forced into doing this or that, if our God-given machine worked in harmony and was not destroyed from the outside in and the inside out, we could live forever!



Let's get into what systems and barriers we have and how these army bases react to attack. There are a few different mechanisms our systems use for defence. Some are semi-permeable barrier systems made of membranes (like hedges) that are lined with mucus and scattered with individual soldiers that patrol most membranes and linings where there may be contamination - the nasal membranes, all down the throat and into the lungs, the ‘food pipe’ down into the tummy and the entire intestine, large and small. These barrier systems have billions of cells (goblet cells) whose sole function is to make mucus...you think we may need it?!



This mucus is an integral part of the barrier, the sticky stuff that the bugs (and dust, pollen, and all airborne bits) get stuck in before even trying to get through the hedge. They stick in the mucus, and get killed or eaten by our white blood cells, the soldiers. The mucus is then moved along the passageways towards the exits and then forcefully expelled, by coughing and sneezing. When the invaders are numerous more soldiers are moved into specific zones, the mucus layer gets thicker so that more bugs can get stuck and more soldiers can get to them. This is when the sneezing turns into a cold and sinus congestion. Fluid is also released into the passages to lift the mucus and get it out, along with all the bugs that are stuck in it. That's when the nose starts running. After the flush, more clear mucus is quickly produced and the barrier is restored to begin its function again. Some bugs do get through this barrier and into the blood stream. These are quickly detected and the local army are called in to try and contain and destroy them.



The local army bases (lymph glands) swell with the increase in soldiers and the increased drainage of all local areas. These army bases include the tonsils and adenoids (the guards standing sentry at the door of your body), the main 'glands' in the throat and neck, those under the arm pit, in the groin and behind the knees. There are also other army bases along all the roads of our body (the lymphatic system) that continuously drain the tissues of excess fluid returning it into the blood stream at the level of the heart. Before this fluid can be returned directly into the heart, the main pump station of our bodies, it has to be cleaned, filtered and sterilised. This happens all the time as the fluid moves through the lymph nodes.



When there is an infection in a local area, like a sore throat or open wound, the nodes or glands in that area will swell up -what you can feel as lumps that are tender and sore. This swelling is NOT the problem, but a part of the solution. This is the army base getting more active, filtering more fluid through it and stocked full of soldiers ready in waiting to ambush those bugs coming through. This may be sore and unpleasant, sorry, but I'd like my army bases to do their work please and not be made to stop just because of some discomfort for a few days!



There are also other mechanisms that our immune system uses in ridding the body of invaders. When we ingest, eat or drink, foods that are toxic to our bodies, the message is loud and clear (literally!) GET OUT! The conveyor belt system goes into fast mode and everything passes through all the passages very quickly and exits as fast! This is to ensure that the toxic matter gets out of the body quickly so that it cannot be absorbed into the body itself. At all times the army is trying to contain, destroy and eliminate foreign bodies to prevent them from getting into the deeper and much more vital organ systems.



Swelling is also an important immune system reaction that is beneficial to our quick recovery and not a hindrance to it. When there has been an injury or a bite of sorts, the immune system reacts by causing inflammation to the area. A sudden increase in blood flow results in swelling of the tissue around it as fluid is pushed from the blood stream into and in between the tissues. This is how more immune cells, or soldiers, get into the affected area so that they can quickly contain and destroy the enemy that had entered via a different route or a distant border that is not so heavily guarded. With the soldiers come other particles that are integral in the healing of damaged cells and the break down and removal of wastes. The swelling around the area also acts as a barrier and capsule-like protection so that the toxins can be contained in that area only and whatever has invaded is prevented from travelling to other parts - contain, destroy and eliminate. Always.



There are even more advanced barrier and filtration systems, like around the brain and a growing baby, that are like the corridors of impermeable steel around the inner sanctums of the secret army and governmental head quarters. Here security is much tighter and much fewer bugs can get in.



We are a hierarchical system, where the important organ systems that keep our bodies operational, the engine rooms and pump stations, must be kept clear and free of bugs and invaders, otherwise their important life sustaining functions will be interfered with. So the body's army is expected to be on the lookout and very active at all times expelling invaders. They MUST be allowed to respond, otherwise the invaders will slowly but surely, one battle at a time, weaken the system as a whole so that they can take over for good.



And again I say: Natural medicine works with the body’s natural healing mechanisms, assisting it in all its efforts to heal and regain balance of all systems. It’s all about COMMUNICATION - life is really - like ants, each tiny cell communicates with the others, resulting in correct functioning and rebalancing. When the right signals are communicated, the correct responses are made and balance is restored. Think twice about whether it is a good idea to always work against what the body’s instinctive reaction is and how this will affect the long term functioning of your army and that of your family?


Author: Dr Catherine Knight

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