The Army Within- recruiting all Immune Defences.

Are you one of these people that get sick in winter? Well now is the time to start mobilizing the army. Your immune system is highly organized and acts like a powerful, well-regulated army to protect us against all manner of invading antigens. Lines of defense consist broadly of three highly specialized cell types, each with specific roles, much the same as an army is made up of soldiers, sergeants and generals.
The Soldiers: Neutrophils, Basophils, Macrophages, Natural Killer Cells, Cytotoxic T Cells, Eosinophils and Lymphocytes. As we constantly come into contact with many kinds of diseases and pathogens, the immune system has developed a variety of soldiers that respond as a first line of cellular defense. These “soldiers” are white blood cells, constantly on immune surveillance, each with their own weapons and methods of attack to fight off sworn enemies - viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and any other foreign antigens that challenge the defense network.

The Sergeants: T Helper Cells T helper cells (Th) are like the sergeants who are in command of the soldiers. There are two main types of Th cells (Th1 and Th2) which direct the two specific arms of immune defense. The Th1 arm of immunity is called into action to mount a cell-mediated immune response that fights bacterial, viral or fungal infections. Meanwhile, the Th2 immune response is utilized to respond to environmental or food antigens, or parasites. If either the Th1 or Th2 “sergeants” take over too much of the action, the other is down-regulated and suppressed, like a seesaw, leading to an imbalance in immune responses. . The sergeants need to be coordinated by the generals of the immune system, T regulatory cells, that oversee and regulate the balance between Th1 and Th2 activity.

The Generals: T regulatory Cells, Gut Mucosal Immunity The T regulatory cells (Tr) are predominantly found in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) and are very important, as they are the lymphocytes that control Th1 and Th2 cells. If Tr function is impaired, then Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes are left unchecked and an imbalance of the immune seesaw may occur. If the immune system fails to recognize antigens from self tissue, it can turn its attack on the body itself and destroy our own cells and tissues, resulting in autoimmunity.

This all may sound a bit complicated and our body does sometimes tend to get complicated in all it's reactions, but that's a good thing.  What you need to know is that at the pharmacy we offer effective Clinical Solutions for Acute and Chronic Immune Balance.  This month we are making up herbal mixtures just for you to assist your immune system and to mobilize your army. Act now and don't miss out by being sick this winter.