Understanding the body's Immune System

 

As most of you know, my passion is teaching against the harmful effects of vaccines.
While some vaccines may help prevent diseases, over-vaccinating actually creates disease.
Understanding vaccines begins with understanding the Immune System. I am amazed at how little our society is taught regarding this very important subject.
This will be geared towards our animal friends but much of the information relates to us people as well. There are very little differences in the immune system between the species.

One definition of disease is :
A disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, esp. one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.

Regardless, I call disease, DIS-ease.
That means, I define disease as anything that causes the body to become imbalanced or affects it's natural state of homeostasis.
Homeostasis is a state of physiological equilibrium,  in which the body must remain to keep all cells and structures within the body functioning normal.

The body was designed to internally regulate itself for optimal health.
Our body was designed with its very own amazing IMMUNE SYSTEM in which it is designed to destroy ANY and ALL foreign agents that may enter or develop within the body which could cause harm.
Examples: bacterial agents, viruses, cancer cells, harmful chemicals, residual toxins.

                                    


The body was designed to deal with each and every one of the agents listed above.

Natural Immunity is far more powerful than artificial immunity.
However, over the last 50 years, our dependence has been geared toward protection from artificial immunity.

A few important facts about the Immune System:
1) The immune functions optimally in a healthy environment - in a normal state of homeostasis. Anything that may negatively affect homeostasis will, in turn, affect the immune system.  
    a) prescription drugs - anti-inflammatories, pain medications, other prescribed medications,     chemicals -topical or oral flea and heartworm preventatives, residual chemicals - mercury or formaldehyde from vaccine injections, ingested chemicals - processed foods, additives, food dyes
    b) poor diet - lack of fresh and/or organic vegetables, meats containing hormones, antibiotics, or growth stimulants
    c) stress - stress of disease - chronic illness or chronically suppressed immune system, negative changes in lifestyle or uneasiness of environment
    d) lack of exercise
2) The immune system was designed to be the body's primary defense mechanism.

3) The immune system's defense mechanism protects through
    a) mucosal protection of nose or nares - sinus - adenoids
    b) mouth beginning with tonsils and continuing through the gut mucosa
    c) skin - largest organ of the body
4) Immune cells are stored in the lymph nodes, thymus, peyer's patches of the intestinal tract and bone marrow. In humans, the spleen is a primary storage area for immune cells but this is not the case in the dog.
5) The largest immune defense mechanism resides in the GUT or intestinal mucosa - Peyer's patches.
6) The body is designed to tag EVERY abnormal cell with a flag, including cancer cells. A normal and healthy immune system is designed to destroy cancer cells as soon as they are identified.
7) The immune system uses 2 forms of protection
    a) Cell mediated immunity - this is the first line of defense to a foreign invader. The body instigates it's armed and ready soldier cells - macrophages, T-cells and cytotoxic cells to destroy the invader.
    b) Humoral immunity - this is memory immunity. The body has ANTI-bodies stored in the bone marrow from previous first invasion or artificial immunity - vaccines. The anti-body is specific for the antigen invading and the enemy is removed through identification and destruction.

 

 

The antibody combines with the antigen (the enemy) to form an Ag/Ab complex. Once formed, the complex must be cleared by the body. I will discuss the importance of this over the course of this tutorial.

*Important fact: artificial immunity is not effective, just as natural immunity is not effective in an unhealthy animal or in the face of chronic DIS-ease.
Vaccines are not medicine.
Vaccines will not benefit an animal in a diseased state and will not prevent disease in an animal already infected with the illness. In fact, it will lower it's body's natural immune response through pre-occupation and make the animal more susceptible to the disease.