...To immune or not to immune? Alicia Thornton Excelsior College Vaccines have been widely used in the United States since the 1700’s. The use of vaccinations has deeply affected the occurrence of many types of infectious diseases. Without the use of vaccines, the death rate from viruses and diseases would be extremely high. Due to a new strain of avian flu has formulated in China, I suggest that a vaccine should become mandatory in this United States in order to stop this virus from becoming a pandemic. It is important to remember the impact of what vaccines have done, how productive and unproductive our immune system are against infectious diseases, and the effectiveness of vaccines that has stopped our country from encountering a pandemic. The impact of vaccines caused some diseases to eradicate from the world. The last occurrence case of Smallpox was in 1977, and vaccination against smallpox stopped. The last occurrence of Polimyelitis in the United States was in 1979 and it is on the verge on eradicating. Because so many babies are born every day in the United States, it is still a need to continue vaccinating the population. There is a continuing threat that still exists from importation of diseases from other countries. Our immune system is a complex system consisting of interacting cells whose primary purpose is to identify antigens. However our bodies are not capable of fighting every virus or disease it encounters. Once a person encounters a certain disease...
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...Protecting and enhancing our immune systems Audrey Brown-Sissoko SCI/163 October 24, 2013 Kate Toohig Protecting and enhancing our immune systems The immune system is a group of cells and organs that defend the body against invaders causing disease. Our immune system does a phenomenal job of protecting us from various disease and illnesses, but on occasion we may be struck down with a cold. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) 2011, “children have about two to six colds a year, while adults average about one to three colds a year”( para 1). However, one of the best ways to prevent a cold is by enhancing or boosting your immune system. “Immune system boosters create white blood cells so your system has more fighting power against illness and disease” (January 2010, para 2). There are many nutrients and supplements you can take to give your immune system a boost and to help it get back on a healthy path. Vitamin E, it stimulates the creation of strong fighting cells that kill off cancer cells and germs, eat a diet containing vegetable oils, grains, and seeds. Vitamin C, produces more fighting white blood cells, antibodies, and prevents the entry of any germs or viruses. Food that contain vitamin c are, fruits like, grapefruits, oranges, strawberries, leafy green vegetables such as, broccoli, asparagus, and cabbage. Beta carotene stimulates the immune cells and wards off cancer, carrots are a good source of beta carotene...
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...The immune system is a network of cells that join together to combat the body against the attacks of a foreign invaders. These foreign invaders are mainly microbes such as parasites, fungi, and bacteria. Viruses are also considered foreign invaders to the body. The immune system’s job is to keep these foreign invaders out of the body. If some of them do come in the body, then it’s job is to kill them. A pathogen can be viewed as an infectious agent. It causes illness or disease to its host. It causes chaos in the normal physiology of a multi-cellular plant or animal. It can also infect unicellular organisms as well. One of the immune system’s most important functions is the ability to distinguish between the body’s own cells as “self” and foreign cells as “non self.” The immune system usually works together quietly with cells that are classified as “self” cells. When an immune system detects a foreign organism or cell categorized as “non self,” it quickly fires an attack. In abnormal circumstances, the immune system can order an attack by mistake on its own cells. This is known as autoimmune disease. There are many types of nonspecific defenses that the immune system uses. The three types of nonspecific defenses I am going to talk about are traps, barriers, and low level of pH. Some of the examples of traps are hair, cilia, ear wax, and mucous membranes. Mucous membrane and skin are the first line of defense, also called along innate immunity, in a person’s body...
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...Immune System-Part II The immune system is composed of a very complex network of organs, cells, and molecules. All of these contributors play a significant role in the maintaining the body’s homeostasis. There are two paths the immune system can take. These are known as innate and adaptive immunity. They work in conjunction with one another to provide the proper response to environmental factors. Innate immunity is characterized by a rapid response to the stimulus. It is known as the body’s first line of defense. As mentioned above, there are several components of the immune system. Notable cellular components are recognized as T and B lymphocytes. To explain a little about their origin, it begins in the bone marrow. Previous to the bone marrow, the T and B lymphocytes start out as stem cells in the bone marrow. These pluripotent stem cells give rise to myeloid and lymphoid progenitors. The lymphoid progenitors give origin to the T and B lymphocytes and NK cells. The T lymphocytes will leave the bone marrow and migrate to the thymus in order to mature as a T-cell. It should be noted that only mature T lymphocytes leave the thymus and enter into circulation. In contrast, B lymphocytes remain in the bone marrow. At the end of their maturation stage, they can then leave the bone marrow and enter into circulation, migrating to secondary lymphoid organs. B lymphocytes define the classes of immunoglobulins, also known as antibodies, IgA, IgG, IgD, IgE, and IgM. The...
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...Immune system is the body ability to fight off the disease. The most susceptible you are the more likely for you to get the disease. When we talk about immunity there is two base ways work there is what we called the innate (non-specific) immunity, and adaptive or acquired immunity. Innate (non-specific) immunity has no memory it never gets any better no matter how many times you been exposure to foreign body. It carries out by our physical barriers, complement and phagocytes. Acquired immune system is the opposed. It recognized the stuff you been exposure before and it gets better to fight off the disease you been exposure before. It has memory, antibody and T-cells. The real cell in our immune system we have is red blood cell (erythrocytes) carry out oxygen to the tissues. White blood cell (leukocytes) is mediated our immunity. So there are six types of white blood cell Granulocytes include Neutrophils,Basophils and Eosinophils. Agranulocyts include dendridic cell, monocytes/macrophages, lymphocytes which is our (T-cells: B cells: Nk cells). The function of the Granulocytes is when Neutrophils, Eosinophils or Basophils are simulated what they do is take the granule and release them. The granule contains chemical like histamine it cause inflammation in your body. One of the common examples is Allergies. Phagocytosis is the phagocyte has to send out information there is something is foreign and part of the function of Granulocytes is when they release histamine and tell the phagocyte...
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...stress and the immune system’ The immune system is a collection of billions of cells that travel through the bloodstream. They move in and out of tissues and organs, defending the body against foreign bodies (antigens), such as bacteria, viruses and cancerous cells. There are two types of lymphocytes within the immune system, these are; B cells- produce antibodies which are released into the fluid surrounding the body’s cells to destroy the invading viruses and bacteria. T cells- if the invader gets inside a cell, these (T cells) lock on to the infected cell, multiply and destroy it. The main types of immune cells are white blood cells. There are two types of white blood cells – lymphocytes and phagocytes. When people are stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more prone to infectious disease. The stress hormone corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system (lowers the number of lymphocytes). Stress can also have an indirect effect on the immune system as a person may use unhealthy behavioural coping strategies to reduce their stress, such as drinking and smoking which further inhibit the immune system. There has been a lot of research into the relationship between stress and the immune system. One group of psychologists who researched this was Kiecolt- Glaser et al (1984). Their aim was to investigate whether stress of important examinations has an effect on the functioning of the immune system. They...
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...Lymphatic/Immune System Unit Performance Assessment Your written work should contain 3 sections: 1. 2. 3. An explanation of the relationship between lymphatic structures and the immune system (~1 paragraph) a. Student work includes a detailed description of all of the structures of the lymphatic system (including lymph nodes and vessels, spleen, thymus, tonsils, Peyer's patches, and appendix), the location of each, and how that location supports the functions of immunity required by the body An explanation about how the immune system works and how a vaccine effects that system (~3-4 paragraphs) a. Student work includes a description of the "three levels" of immune system, including innate and adaptive defenses, humoral vs, cell-mediated responses, and active vs passive immunity; and describes how vaccines work in the body using a specific vaccine as an example A reaction (either in support or in disagreement) to the message of your chosen political cartoon (please include an image of the cartoon) along with supporting data/statistics from reliable and cited sources (~3-4 paragraphs) a. Student correctly explains the "sides" of the issue being reflected in the political cartoon of their choosing, and explains whether they agree or disagree with the overall message of the cartoon. Several specific data or statistics are researched by the student and used to support their argument either for or against the cartoon. 1. An explanation of the relationship...
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...What is the Impact of Stress on the Immune Response to Breast Cancer? My report covers the study of the “Impact of Stress on Immune Response of Breast Cancer Women After Mastectomy” conducted by the American Journal of Nursing Science. The study was conducted to examine whether stress influences immune responses in patients following breast cancer diagnosis and surgery. 60 women diagnosed with breast cancer agreed to be part of the study, they were between the ages of 45-55 years old and were scheduled to have a mastectomy. Before beginning their adjuvant therapy, all subjects completed an evaluation involving (1) Stress Assessment Scale (2) Immune Response Assessment Questionnaire. They took a 60-mL blood sample from each patient and subjected it many test including a panel of natural killer (NK) cell and T-lymphocyte assays. They then recorded personal data such as age, sex, level of education, occupation, marital status, monthly income, and their family situation to test the contribution of psychological stress in predicting immune function. Women who undergo chronic stress, such as the diagnosis and surgical treatment of breast cancer, often experience adjustment difficulties and biologic effects. This stress can affect the immune system, possibly reducing the ability to resist disease progression and metastatic spread. As stated in the American Journal of Nursing Science “The immune system is important to cancer women in...
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...The immune system is a complex system within the body that, when healthy, defends against foreign invaders and keeps the body free of infectious organisms that could cause harm to the body. When it is healthy and fights off a certain bacteria, infection, etc. it can grow an immunity to that specific agent and lower the person’s chances of contracting that sickness again. If the immune system gets out of balance, however, this can cause several problems. The body will become susceptible to any infectious sicknesses that they come in contact with and can even die. There is also the chance of this resulting in an autoimmune disease which is when “the immune system can attack the body’s own tissues…or it can over respond to common substances, creating...
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...Cohen et al. investigated the link between general life stressors and vulnerability to the common cold virus. He took 394 healthy individuals and asked them to complete questionnaires on the number of stressful life events they had experienced the previous year, the degree of their stress and their level of negative emotions. The three scores were combined to what is called a stress index. He found that the chance of developing a cold was linked with stress levels. Cohen et al. concluded that stress reduces the effectiveness of our immune system, leaving participants less able to resist viral infection. Cohen et al.’s research measured health outcomes, which shows a relationship between life stress and illness. However, this study does not tell us which part of the stress index is most important. This study also has ethical issues that need to be considered, such as participants needing to be in good health with no illness or infections prior the study. The participants were described as healthy however it is difficult to operationalize ‘healthy individuals’. This is a subjective measurement which does not take into account individual differences which will affect the validity of the data and its application to the general population. A large sample size of 394 individuals was used. This means that there will be a lot of representative data which therefore means it is high in validity. Questionnaires can be an effective research method tool as they allow for a measurement...
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...The immune system can be divided into two components, a primary innate generalised system and a secondary specialised response. It is the integration of these two systems which can eliminate harm provoked by an invader. The innate response includes multiple physiological and anatomical barriers, including unbroken skin, low pH conditions found on the skin and in the stomach, mucociliary clearance, temperature as well as a few more which all aid in the maintenance of an antimicrobial environment. The cells of the innate response typically express Toll-like receptors which allow them to react swiftly to a broad class of pathogens, which results in targeted protective inflammation. The cells of the innate response include numeral phagocytes,...
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...Are we really helping our children and ourselves by getting all sorts of immunizations and vaccines? Vaccines can actually harm a child’s immune system and brain, causing such disorders as autism, ADD, ADHD, asthma and allergies. Children and the elderly are the most people who are being vaccinated. Vaccine schedules have more than doubled since the 1980’s. In the last 25 years up until now, with vaccinating children, their health has had a huge downfall. As a child I was brought to the doctor’s office every time I was sick and given antibiotics. What they gave me could have more or less hurt me in the long run. I am sick several times out of a year because my immune system is very poor and takes a long time to fight infection. Because of taking these antibiotics, didn’t allow for my own body to try and fight the infection therefor I’m sick quite a bit. Antibiotics increase the bacterial toxins delivered into the body by killing other bacteria not targeted. Some may even reduce vitamin C which weakens your immune system. What exactly are in the ingredients in the vaccines that we are getting and giving to our children? Preservatives and chemicals that increase immune response, aluminum phosphate, phenol, gelatin etc. All of which exposure to these toxins in the early stages of development is severely dangerous to the brain. Immunity can be achieved naturally. First off by breastfeeding your newborn, even if its just for the first couple...
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...Outline and evaluate research into the relationship between the immune system and Stress-related illness. (12marks) It is suggested that stress can result in immunosuppression which can lead to stress-related illnesses such as Coronary Heart Disease and high blood pressure. Kiecolt and Glaser conducted an experiment to see the effects of stress on the immune system. This was achieved by taking blood samples of 75 medical students one month before and during their examination period. They then compared the two blood samples and found decreased leucocyte activity in the sample taken during high levels of stress (during their exams). This shows that stress reduces the activity of the immune system, making them more susceptible to becoming ill. Advantages of the study are that blood tests are objective measurements, so there was no social desirability or experimenter bias when analysing the results. The participants were also compared to themselves which removes participant variables on how they perceive stressors. The experiment was a field experiment so there was no manipulating of the independant variable to deliberately cause stress to the participants which makes it ethical. It also means the research has ecological validity and can be applied to the wider world. However, a field experiment may have extraneous variables which impact the results. For example, the student lifestyle of having little sleep and poor accomidation may have been an alternative source of stress. Another...
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...Outline and Evaluate research into the effects on Stress in the Immune System (12 marks) Stress is an environmental event or situation (a stressor), which can induce a stress response in us. When someone is experiencing a stressful situation, all the body's resources are diverted and this suppresses the immune system because of the high levels of stress hormones, corticosteroids, which shrink the thymus glands preventing the growth of T-cells. This makes us more vulnerable to infection and disease. Various studies have been devised to test whether stress makes us more vulnerable to infection and illness. Research has supported the theory that stress can reduce the effectiveness of the immune system. Kiecolt-Glaser et al 1984 devised the study of exam stress and the immune function in people exposed to high levels of stress. Blood samples were taken from medical students 1 month before their final exams (control reading) and on the first day of their exams. (stress reading) Participants also completed psychological questionnaires, and the difference in blood counts was greatest for those who reported highest levels of anxiety and social isolation. This sample of participants is an unrepresentative sample of the general population and its generalisation is therefore restricted only to medical students. Also the questionnaire is subjective and social desirability may take over the participant’s answers as they may be worrying who will see them. The perceptions...
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...Outline and evaluate research into the relationship between the immune system and Stress-related illness. (12marks) It is suggested that stress can result in immunosuppression which can lead to stress-related illnesses such as Coronary Heart Disease and high blood pressure. Kiecolt and Glaser conducted an experiment to see the effects of stress on the immune system. This was achieved by taking blood samples of 75 medical students one month before and during their examination period. They then compared the two blood samples and found decreased leucocyte activity in the sample taken during high levels of stress (during their exams). This shows that stress reduces the activity of the immune system, making them more susceptible to becoming ill. Advantages of the study are that blood tests are objective measurements, so there was no social desirability or experimenter bias when analysing the results. The participants were also compared to themselves which removes participant variables on how they perceive stressors. The experiment was a field experiment so there was no manipulating of the independant variable to deliberately cause stress to the participants which makes it ethical. It also means the research has ecological validity and can be applied to the wider world. However, a field experiment may have extraneous variables which impact the results. For example, the student lifestyle of having little sleep and poor accomidation may have been an alternative source of stress. Another...
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