What Is the Immune System?

The immune system is an interactive network of organs, cells and proteins that protect the body from viruses and bacteria or any foreign substances. The immune system works to neutralize and remove pathogens like bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi that enter the body, recognize and neutralize harmful substances from the environment, and fight against the body’s own cells that have changes due to an illness. (1)

The cells of the immune system originate in the bone marrow, then migrate to guard the peripheral tissues, circulating in the blood and in the specialized system of vessels called the lymphatic system.

When our immune system is working properly, we don’t even notice it. It’s when the performance of our immune system is compromised that we face illness. Underactivity of the immune system results in severe infections and tumors of immunodeficiency, while overactivity results in allergic and autoimmune diseases. (2)

For our body’s natural defenses to run smoothly, the immune system must be able to differentiate between “self” and “non-self” cells, organisms and substances. “Non-self” substances are called antigens, which includes the proteins on the surfaces of bacteria, fungi and viruses. When the cells of the immune system detect the presence of an antigen, the immune system recalls stored memories in order to quickly defend itself against known pathogens.

However, our own cells also have surface proteins, and it’s important that the immune system does not work against them. Normally, the immune system has already learned at an earlier stage to identify these cells proteins as “self,” but when it identifies its own body as “non-self,” this is called an autoimmune reaction. (3)

The amazing thing about the immune system is that it’s constantly adapting and learning so that the body can fight against bacteria or viruses that change over time. There are two parts of the immune system — our innate immune system works as a general defense against pathogens and our adaptive immune system targets very specific pathogens that the body has already has contact with. These two immune systems complement each other in any reaction to a pathogen or harmful substance. (4)


Immune Deficiency Diseases

An immune deficiency disease is when the immune system is missing one or more of its parts, and it reacts too slowly to a threat. Immune deficiency diseases can be caused by medications or illness, or it may be a genetic disorder, which is called primary immunodeficiency. (6)

Some immune deficiency diseases include severe combined immune deficiency, common variable immune deficiency, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficient syndrome (HIV/AIDS), drug-induced immune deficiency and graft versus host syndrome. All of these conditions are due to a severe impairment of the immune system, which leads to infections that are sometimes life-threatening.
Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases cause your immune system to attack your own body’s cells and tissues in response to an unknown trigger. Autoimmune diseases have registered an alarming increase worldwide since the end of the Second World War, with more than 80 autoimmune disorders and increases in both the incidence and prevalence of these conditions.

Fifty million Americans are living with an autoimmune disease today, and for many of them, it’s hard to get an accurate diagnosis right away. In fact, it often takes about five years to receive a diagnosis because autoimmune disease symptoms are so disparate and vague. Examples of autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, Graves’ disease (overactive thyroid), Hashimoto’s disease (underactive thyroid) and vasculitis.

Treatment for autoimmune diseases typically focus on reducing the immune system’s activity, but your first line of defense should be addressing leaky gut and removing foods and factors that damage the gut. Several studies have shown that increased intestinal permeability is associated with several autoimmune diseases, and it appears to be involved in disease pathogenesis.

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