How+does+our+body+fight+off+sickness?


 * __HOW DOES OUR BODY FIGHT OFF SICKNESS?__**

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The way that our body fights of sicknesses is through our immune system. The immune system is basically a body's defense against infectious or harmful bacteria. Through a series of steps known immune response, organisms that cause diseases are attacked and killed before further infection.

The immune system is made up of millions of cells, tissues, and organs that all work together to protect our body from harmful substances. The main cell involved in the immune response is white blood cells, also known leukocytes, Leukocytes seek out and destroy infectious diseases. There are two basic types of leukocytes. Leukocytes are produced and stored in many locations in the body, including the thymus, spleen, and bone marrow.

Leukocytes circulate through our bodies through lymphatic vessels and blood vessels. This allows the immune system to monitor the body for germs or substances that might cause problems.

The two basic types of leukocytes are neutrophils, which are cells that chew up invading organisms and lymphocytes, which are cells that allow the body to remember and recognize previous invaders and help the body destroy them. During infections, neutrophil cells divide and are dumped into the blood stream to combat the infection. The neutrophil fights invaders by "eating" bacteria and other harmful substances. The neutrophil membrane wraps around the invader and traps it inside the neutrophil, then the digestive enzymes in the neutrophil destroy bacteria.

The other main type of blood cell, known as the lymphocyte, comes in two forms. There is a B-type and an T-type. The B-type makes circulating antibodies, it is made in lymph nodes and bone marrow. The T-type lymphocyte has two jobs, to kill foreign cells on contact or help by release chemicals that will help kill invaders. T-cells recognize other cells and when they come in contact with an intruder, the invading cells are killed.

Melanie D. February 13, 2012

© 1996-2012: The Franklin Institute []

December 6, 2011: U.S Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health []

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