Immune System

Have you ever wondered how your body works? Did you ever think about how your body defends itself from outside invaders? Remember the last time you were sick. Did you know how your body fought and killed the sickness? All these questions can be answered by learning about one of the most important systems in your body, the immune system.

Right now your immune system is at work. Think about it, millions of cells right now are at work inside you. It’s a complex system constantly on that keeps you healthy and at your fullest. This system is made of many organs, cell, tissues and other structures (that work very precisely with each other). Before you learn how the system works, you need to know how about what it defends against.

The immune system defends against foreign invaders. These invaders are called pathogens. A pathogen is any agent that causes disease. These pathogens can come from many places. Many common places are from bacteria, viruses, protists, fungi, and cells from other beings. These pathogens can also spread in many ways, namely air, food, water, contact with an infected animal or plant. (Modern Biology)

One of the main defenses against these pathogens is specific types of cells that have unique functions that aid in destroying a threat. These cells are called Lymphocytes. There are three major types of these cells, the B-cell, Helper-T cell, and Natural Killer cells. The first cell, the B-cell, is matured in the bone marrow. The B-cell makes antibodies that attach to the pathogen. When pathogens invade the body, they usually have a unique structure on the outside of their body. These structures are called antigens. Antigens are what pathogens use to land on a uninfected cell and transfer the viru...

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..., drinking water, lower your sugar intake, and eating right.

The immune system is an incredible system that’s made of many complex parts and is essential for keeping ourselves alive.

Works Cited

Donatelle, Rebecca J. Access to Health. San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings, 2008. Print.

"Immune System." University of Hartford's Academic Web Server. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. .

"Immune System." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. .

Immune System." National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Home Page. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. .

Postlethwait, John H., and Janet L. Hopson. Modern Biology. Orlando, FL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. Print.