Within the human body, there happens to be a mechanism that is designed to be able to fight off millions of microbes, bacteria, toxins, parasites and viruses. Known as the immune system, this is the first line of defense to keep you safe from anything and everything that could potentially invade your body and get you sick. In order to understand how the immune system works, one would say that you can simply look into what happens when it is not working properly.
After something dies, its immune system shuts down along with everything else. Within just a matter of hours, the body ends up invaded by parasites, microbes and bacteria. However, none of these things are able to get into the body when the immune system is working properly. The minute that the immune system is unable to do its job, you can look at it as there being a door that is wide open and you are going to be vulnerable to a lot of potentially bacteria and illnesses.
How It Works
The human immune system is not only interesting, but it is also complex and intricate. It works around the clock in a number of ways to keep you healthy and safe from invaders. Whenever you get a cut, there can be a lot of viruses and bacteria that will pour into your body through the skin break. The same goes if you get a splinter or you are subjected to germs that are passed from one person to you, where you breathe them in through your respiratory system. The immune system will quickly respond, working to eliminate the threat. If you have a cut or a splinter, the skin works to heal itself, fighting the bacteria and sealing the puncture.
There are rare cases where your immune system will miss something, which is what happens when you get an infection. With an infection, there can be inflammation and the area will sometimes fill with pus. While the inflammation and pus are not pleasant, they are simply common side effects letting you know that your immune system is hard at work and trying to do its job.
Getting Sick
Whenever you get sick, the body is not able to work at its full potential to fight off the illness. There can be a number of different ways that a person can get sick, including:
Deficiency – If you are not getting enough vitamins and minerals that your body needs, the chances are good that you can get sick a lot faster than usual. This is why it is best to boost your intake of vitamin C and other valuable nutrients whenever cold and flu season rolls around.
Mechanical Damage – If you tear a ligament or you break a bone, you will become sick in the sense that your body has to work hard to send the necessary healing power to the area that is damaged. When you are healing from a break or another issue, you should know that your immune system could leave you vulnerable to other health conditions.
Genetic Diseases – If there happens to be any sort of coding error with DNA in the body, someone could be more susceptible to illnesses.
Your physician will be able to tell you that there are a number of ways that you can work towards a healthy, strong immune system. Not only should you be getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals, be eating a healthy diet and exercising, you also need to think about making sure that you are getting plenty of sleep each night so that your body is strong enough to take whatever comes your way.