immune system: Explanation, Improvement and immune system diseases

We certainly do not have anything more valuable than our lives and therefore our health!

It was the process of loosing two family members who died of cancer and two other close friends finding out to be HIV+ (two of the most common immune system diseases), that Triggered the idea of starting this website.

I used the knowledge I already had from doing research at university and all the accumulated material from what i started to study for personal reasons as I mentioned.

Naturally, I felt the need to share all gathered information and I sincerely hope this will help many people..

I continue studying and I constantly add more information here. feel free to return often and check what's new

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Not only humans but all living organisms are continuously exposed to different exterior conditions and substances that are capable of causing them harm. We build houses to protect from the weather, we wear clothes to protect from the cold, and we take medicines as treatment for a given condition or use a good insect repellent to chase mosquitos away.

Most organisms protect themselves against all sorts of “adversities” in several ways that can be either with physical barriers or with chemicals.

Vertebrate animals, those with a backbone, including us, take advantage of both physical and chemical protection. This second one is, obviously, more advanced and particularly fascinating.

That is our immune system.

First thing to understand is – there is no such thing as one single organ doing the entire job. It is a team work! A network! A set of mechanisms (or organs) containing cells that recognize these foreign agents.

Foreign agents can be viruses, bacteria, tumour cells, parasites etc. in addition, this "Network" needs to distinguish them from organism's own healthy cells. Complex and fascinating!

I like to think of an anti-virus software on the computer. It works on the background and we don’t even notice it is there except when it fails or detects something. Sometimes the system runs slower than usual when updates are running.

I will aproach here the system definition, what can cause it to crash (cause and consequence) as well as what is available for treatment, improvement or boosting.