The Immune System

Most kids live in a house and they probably do something to support their parents. Whether it's cleaning, cooking, working at their parent's job, or going to school so their parent's investment in them doesn't go to waste. the human body does the same thing. Everything works in the body or does something to support it, but there are things in the body that cause nothing but trouble. Like viruses and bacteria. The body wants them OUT! There is a way the body kicks them out. Every time humans sneeze, cough, puke, pee, and poop they kick out bad germs from the body. It's a good thing your body does this because our body doesn't want to deal with everything, also your body only needs food for its nutrients, not the whole thing.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from <a href="https://pixabay.com/vectors/eject-emit-expel-gag-heave-hurl-154112/">pixabay.com</a>

Virus: an infective agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat, is too small to be seen by light microscopy, and is able to multiply only within the living cells of a host. Medication: a substance used for medical treatment, especially a medicine or drug. Cells: basic building blocks of all living things Allergy: unusual sensitivity to a harmless substance. Epidermis: upper surface layer if skin

The immune system is one of the most important systems in our body. Some interesting facts about the immune system date back thousands of years ago and some have been discovered more recently.

People wear masks to prevent germs from coming into the body, but thousands of years ago Jains, a group of people in India, wore masks to prevent harm to germs. (Farndon) This is interesting because people cared for the tiniest organisms thousands of years ago.

Dr.Sue Davidson, Human Body Revealed, DK. Publishing Inc., 2002 Christine Webster, Skin, Perfect Learning cooperation, 2006 Natalie Hyde, What is Germ Theory, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2011 Thomasine E. Lewis, Tilden, Belly Busting Worn Invasions, Scholastic Inc., 2008 Carol Ballard, Cells and Cell Function, Rosen Publishing Group Inc. 2010

In the Human Body, pg.23, written by Sara Murphy, “The liver produces a liquid called bile that helps break down fatty food so that the body’s cells could absorb their nutrients. The liver is more important than the stomach because without the liver people wouldn’t be able to receive nutrients from the food they eat. Humans would die faster without a liver than without a stomach.

An article from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/">NCBI.nlm.nih.gov</a> states, “Tonsils stop germs from coming into the body since it’s near the entrance for germs, the neck, and it contains a lot of white blood cells. This is important because a lot more germs would get in if it weren’t for the tonsils and that could lead to some bad things.

The immune system has organs and tissue that work together. Some of these organs and tissues include the skin, the bone marrow, the liver, the tonsils, the spleen, and the thymus.

According to Skeletons, the bone marrow makes up three parts of the blood. Red blood cells and platelets. This is important because without the blood cells humans wouldn’t have anything to circulate blood through the body.

Table of Contents............2 Role of the Immune System........3-5 Organs and Tissues of the Immune System......6-8 The disintegration of the Immune System.......9-11 Interesting Facts on the Immune System........12-14 Glossary.......15 Works Consulted......16 About the author.....17

Image by 12222786 from <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/corona-virus-pandemic-epidemic-4801040/">pixabay.com</a>

Derek Zhang was born on September 24, 2009. He was born in Brandon, South Dakota, raised in China, and came back to America at 4 years old. Derek has one older brother named Calvin, 2 younger brothers named Eyon and William, and a mother and father named Jenny and Kui. Maybe his brothers did an exceptional job at annoying Derek. Derek has a peculiar interest in outer space. When he grows up he is hoping to help with space exploration. The job Derek wants though is to be a lawyer. One of Derek’s favorite books was Catching Fire and Divergent. 

     Skin can't do it alone, bacteria can enter through human eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and probably other holes in the body too. Now even though those holes are far from the ground. There are bacteria in the air, people tend to touch the face, and there are bacteria on beds too. That's why humans have white cells. White cells are a part of the immune system. It recognizes and kills bad germs. The immune system has memory cells that can recognize pathogens called antigens and send out killer cells to attach to the invaders to stop them from spreading. If the body didn't have these, germs would be spreading and duplicating forever.

Image from <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/germs">unsplash.com</a>

Like every system in your body, the immune system has a job. The job of the immune system is to prevent, kill, keep out, and make it so that it's easier to handle viruses and bacteria.

Image by Alexandra_Koch from <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/virus-corona-covid-infection-4957801/">pixabay.com</a>

Image from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Structure_of_mammalian_skin_and_the_layers_typically_present_in_parchment.png">wikimedia.org</a>

Skin is actually a part of the immune system, it is the biggest organ in the body, according to Skin by Christine Webster, the skin's job is to keep out viruses and bacteria. Without the skin, germs would be entering the body every second. People wouldn't make it long, plus they'd look horrifying. Every skin also hides nerve cells so you could feel, temperature, pressure, pain, and makes each and every human unique.

The spleen is an important part of the body because, as <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/">nhs.uk </a>states “It filters blood by getting rid of old and damaged blood cells from the body”. Another fact on the spleen from <a href="https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/video/what-your-spleen-does">WebMD</a> says that The spleen is 5 inches and weighs 6 oz and WebMD also states that “It filters viruses and bacteria creating white blood cells to help fight infections.” The spleen is not that important if it gets removed your other organs will step in, but it’s definitely better to have one since it produces the necessities to fight infections, cleans the blood.

Image from <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diagram_showing_the_position_of_the_spleen_CRUK_417.svg">wikimedia.org</a>

The thymus is a part of the immune system that produces and trains a type of white blood cell called T-lymphocytes, as known as T-cells help fight infections. Without the thymus, we wouldn’t have t-cells, and without t-cells, Some people would be extra screwed against corona-virus or any virus.

Another interesting fact, it states in the text Cells and Cells Functions, “Some viruses like virus particles are actually not alive.” (Ballard) Viruses are now always a good thing, so it’s good that they can’t live long without a host. They absolutely have to have a host to reproduce. Once inside a human, it changes the cell's orders and DNA, to reproduce and attacks the host from within. (Hyde)

In conclusion, the immune system is an important and interesting part of the human body and history holds many facts about it.

Another interesting fact is that one of the most famous books thousands of years ago was Charaka Samhita. This book argues prevention over cure. People should agree, if people never get it people will never need a cure. (Farndon)

According to Mayoclinic “Rho(D) immune globulin is used to treat immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in patients with Rh-positive blood. ITP is a type of blood disorder where the person has a very low number of platelets. Platelets help to clot the blood. Rho(D) immune globulin is also used to prevent antibodies from forming after a person with Rh-negative blood receives a transfusion with Rh-positive blood, or during pregnancy when a mother has Rh-negative blood and the baby is Rh-positive. It belongs to a group of medicines called immunizing agents. Rho(D) immune globulin works to boost the immune system and prevent excessive bleeding.” Drugs can apparently boost the Immune system.

The recent virus known as corona-virus is really persistent. It may never end and one day has to become a common, yet curable thing like the flu. Until then corona-virus is going to be dangerous. It has many common symptoms, such as, (Info from mayoclinic.) Fever (24 hours+), vomiting, diarrhea, pain in the stomach, skin rash , fatigue, rapid heartbeat, headaches/dizziness. It also tricks the body by disguising itself as a normal cell and symptoms won’t show up for up to three weeks. Some precautions are isolation, masks, and sanitizer. These are not guaranteed to work, but they help.&nbsp; &nbsp;What if someone does catch it? If someone does catch corona-virus there is a solution, the Covid vaccine. (The information you’re about to witness is copied word for word from <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/different-types-of-covid-19-vaccines/art-20506465">Mayoclinic)</a> “Each COVID-19 vaccine causes the immune system to create antibodies to fight COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines use a harmless version of a spike-like structure on the surface of the COVID-19 virus called an S protein.

The Immune system is definitely important to the body, yet it still has disadvantages. One disadvantage of the immune system are auto-immune diseases. The autoimmune diseases, as reported by <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/">Mayoclinic.</a>org, “Are caused when the body keeps fighting when the battle is done or if the body fights when nothing is wrong. If it attacks the liver it could cause chronic inflammation and serious damage to liver cells.” Thankfully, there are some treatments for the autoimmune disease which are prednisone and azathioprine to prevent side effects. If someone stops using the medication it might come back so they would have a chance of needing to do medication for life. If these options fail the only option left would be a liver transplant. Something similar to the autoimmune disease is an allergic reaction that’s caused when the immune system attacks something harmless.

The main types of COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. or being studied include: Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine. This type of vaccine uses genetically engineered mRNA to give the cells instructions for how to make the S protein found on the surface of the COVID-19 virus. After vaccination, the muscle cells begin making the S protein pieces and displaying them on cell surfaces. This causes the body to create antibodies. If someone later becomes infected with the COVID-19 virus, these antibodies will fight the virus. After delivering instructions, the mRNA is immediately broken down. It never enters the nucleus of anyone's cells, where the DNA is kept. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines use mRNA. Vector vaccine. In this type of vaccine, genetic material from the COVID-19 virus is placed in a modified version of a different virus (viral vector). When the viral vector gets into your cells, it delivers genetic material from the COVID-19 virus that gives the cells instructions to make copies of the S protein. Once the cells display the S proteins on their surfaces, the immune system responds by creating antibodies and defensive white blood cells. If someone later becomes infected with the COVID-19 virus, the antibodies will fight the virus. Viral vector vaccines can't cause anyone to become infected with the COVID-19 virus or the viral vector virus. Also, the genetic material that's delivered doesn't become part of your DNA. The Janssen/Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is a vector vaccine. AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford also have a vector COVID-19 vaccine. Protein subunit vaccine. Subunit vaccines include only the parts of a virus that best stimulate the immune system. This type of COVID-19 vaccine contains harmless S proteins. Once your immune system recognizes the S proteins, it creates antibodies and defensive white blood cells. If someone later becomes infected with the COVID-19 virus, the antibodies will fight the virus.” Covid-19 is dangerous but thankfully we have a half cure. Covid-19 is also dropping a lot of variants like omicron and delta that might become a problem. Covid might become something as common and curable as the flu. The flu also has a lot of symptoms. These symptoms include fevers that go up to one-hundred and four degrees, stuffy nose, headaches, aches, fatigue, and sneezing. Something nice about the flu though is that it makes the body stronger. It will remember the flu and attack it whenever it shows up. Some precautions are isolation (not needed) and washing hands.&nbsp;

Covid might become something as common and curable as the flu. The flu also has a lot of symptoms. These symptoms include fevers that go up to one-hundred and four degrees, stuffy nose, headaches, aches, fatigue, and sneezing. Something nice about the flu though is that it makes the body stronger. It will remember the flu and attack it whenever it shows up. Some precautions are isolation (not needed) and washing hands.&nbsp;

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