The Australians several years ago discovered substance P. It is the first step in the start of sickness and disease. All sicknesses start with an inflammatory response. It is the immune system first reaction to any invaders. Be it a virus, bacteria, fungus, cancer or toxin. It is the immune systems job to protect the body from anything that would harm it. The immune system is made of the spleen, thymus gland in the chest, lymph nodes, lymph vessels, bone marrow, tonsils, and mucus membranes. So, when you remove the tonsils you are removing part of the immune system. We know that people who have their tonsils removed and contract head or neck cancer do not do as well for this reason. 70% of the immune system is in the gut and its variety of gut bacteria. The actual immune system consists of white blood cells (WBC) called leukocytes which have cells called phagocytic which attack invading organisms and gets rid of them. There are 2 types of leukocytes T & B cells. The B cells come from the bone and the T cells from the thymus gland. Someone said the B cells are like military intelligence. They find the target i.e. virus, cancer, toxins, bacteria and lock on it. The T cells or the soldiers come along and destroy the inadequate B cells. The B cells do their work by making antibodies also called immune globulin. They are proteins that lock onto the invaders which are called antigens. The antibodies the B cells make are called IGG, IGM, IGA, IGF. There antibodies also help the body remember what they have attacked. So, if the body sees the let’s say chicken pox’s virus again it will remember it and the virus will be destroyed.
Auto immune disease are diseases like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, crohn’s disease, and even Parkinson disease may be considered an auto immune disease. There are over 200 auto immune diseases. Auto immune disease is when and overactive immune system attack cells they should not be attacking. When the immune system goes haywire it will actually turn on itself and attack body parts.
The body also uses fever to kill foreign invaders. The immune system works best at a temperature of 102-104.5 at these temperatures even cancer cells have a problem surviving so why so we give Tylenol to decrease a fever? Never figured that one out.
So all of this information is great but how do I help my immune system do what it is supposed to do. #1 the antibodies IGG, IGE, IGM, and IGA are all proteins. So, get adequate protein in your diet. 1 gram of protein for evert 2.2 pounds of body weight but never exceeding 100 grams a day.
In 1903 Dr. Niels Finsen won the noble peace prize in medicine by proving you could kill leprosy and TB of the skin with vitamin D. 40 years later they developed antibiotics and everyone forgot about vitamin D until 2006 when Professor Holick at Harvard discovered in the white blood cells are cells with a vitamin D signaling system in their own cells.
So, besides the protein taking vitamin D will also help the immune system tip of the day. Taking vitamin D 30,000 to 40,000 units before bedtime if you feel you have a cold coming on often will stop the infection that night. Check with your doctor to see if it’s okay for you to try.
In cancer more and more the new treatment is not chemotherapy but treatment that remakes the immune system so that it can do the job it should have years ago when the first cancer cells started growing in the breast, prostate, or anywhere else. It is called Car-T and all you are basically doing is taking these T & B cells and jazzing them up to kill only your cancer cells. We in our own practice are seeing when we do this treatment the patient really is not experiencing all those nasty side effects from radiation treatment or chemotherapy.