The Immune System

When we talk about our immune system we are describing a wonderfully complex network of organs, cells and molecules that protect us from infection and disease. When your immune system is working as it should, it recognises abnormal cells, harmful “bugs” (infectious organisms that can cause disease) and destroys

How Do The Cells in The Immune System Work Together? The immune system is like an army defending a castle. You can think of the immune system as an army defending a castle from invaders. The castle itself is a very important part of our immune defence; in this case

“Cells” are the basic building blocks of all animals, plants and microorganisms (bacteria, fungi etc.). Each organ in our body is made of cells, both the cells that define that organ (e.g. nerve cells in brain, muscle cells in heart) but also the cells that support organ function, like

Although there are many products, diets, nostrums, supplements, practices, methods and concoctions that claim to “boost your immune system”, there is not much evidence that they help. There is evidence however that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the best way to keep your immune system working well. You should

To work properly, your immune system needs to be able to tell the difference between ‘good’ cells (your own healthy cells) and ‘bad’ cells (bugs, human cells infected with viruses or cancer cells). If you have a weakened immune system, it will not recognise or fight the ‘bad’ cells

What Happens if The Immune System Becomes Overactive? If your immune system becomes uncontrolled but overactive, it could start mistaking normal human cells for ‘bad’ cells and start attacking healthy cells. This can cause a number of problems, depending on which part of the body the immune system starts

How does the immune system fight cancer? The Emporer of Cells – Cancer cells Almost perfectly. We are generally oblivious to how well the immune system protects us from cancer. Lymphocytes recognise cells by the small fragments of protein displayed on their surface (“passport please”). Cancer cells are almost

Many of the more basic cells in the immune system just do their job without too much subtlety; run around, find bugs, kill them. Life is simple when you are a neutrophil. The more sophisticated cells of the immune system like lymphocytes are under highly complex control, understandably so,

Our immune systems have evolved over a long period of time, adapting in a never-ending arms-race against infections and abnormal cells. Part of this evolution has been in the way that immune cells recognise that something is wrong. The simpler cells of our immune system automatically recognise invading bacteria,

How does cancer evade the immune system? Knowing that the immune system eliminates almost all cancers as they develop, we now understand that every cancer that actually grows to be big enough to be found by scans or symptoms has somehow evaded the immune system at some point in

By a slow, life-long process: When we are born we have had no exposure to bugs in the outside world; that is why it is so important to have everyone vaccinated against diseases to protect babies who have very weak immune systems. As we grow up, we experience more