Immune System: Means Protection

            - The word immune literally means "protection.

             - Protection from many hazards in the environment.

             - Diseases cannot be immunized, such as cancer or AIDS.

             - Immune system protects against foreign substances, and problems that may arise during that process.

             - Cells of the immune system function to protect the individual organism against threats from anything that is foreign, or nonself. .

             - Predominant threat to humans is infectious.

             - invasion of the body by foreign organisms, viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

             - Potential to cause disease.

             - Disease results when cells tissues have been damaged so much that they can no longer function properly.

             - Without an immune system humans would certainly die from infectious diseases.

             - Immune system also provides long-term resistance, or immunity, to reinfection by organisms that have been precioulsy encountered.

             - Once immune system has encountered a foreign material, it quickly and dfficiently responds to subsequnt exposures to the same material.

             - Cell-medited immunity.

             - Immune protection by antibody protein antibody-mediated immuntity.

             - Phagocytosis destruction of foreign material they engulf and destroy a wide variety of molecules, particles and organisms, in contrast to antibodies, which are specific for only one antigen.

             - Phagocytiosis is an important part of a protective process called inflammation.

             - Tissue dammage such as cuts, splinters and infectious organisms.

             - Other nonspecific mechanisms include physical and biochemical barriers.

             - The skin and mucous cilia antibacterial enzymes found in saliva, sweat are biochemical barriers to many microorganisms.

             - Basic characteristics of immunity were recognized more than 2000 years ago.

             - Certain diseases could be acoided by inducing immunity with vaccines that induce specific immunity without causing disease.

             - White blood cells known as lymphocytes travel individually in the blood circulation.

             - Also collect in specialized lymphoid tissues and organs.

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