Immune System Response

My rendition of a virus

It's not hard to forget that as a human I am vulnerable. When I'm physically fit I rarely get sick. Emotionally I live in a lead cocoon that keeps my inter being safe and sound. I always thought of myself as immune to everything and anything emotionally. I felt immune to hate and suffering and pain and loss and most of to all people, but I'm not. I'm human. I contemplated this, as I lay in bed with a 103 degree temperature and Viral gastroenteritis (the stomach flu). By the morning though tired and very hungry from the radging fever,(with the aid of acetaminophen and some of my good friend Anna's holistic tea) I was almost completely better. My immune system is something I will never take for granted. It is something hard earned from childhood sicknesses. To build a resistance to an infection the immune system has to fight it off and learn the infections nasty tricks. It has to gain knowledge and grow. But I have realized  my emotional "immune system"  is very inexperienced. Living in a lead cocoon didn't mean I was immune to emotional injury. I was merely treating my emotions like a germaphobe treats their health, avoiding injury instead of embracing it and burning it a way with a fever of optimism. 


Click read more for some brief information about the immune system.

The immune system is an extremely complex systems of cells in the body that fight off infection. These cells work together in units to eradicate viruses and bacteria. They do this by releasing chemicals that inhibit the offending pathogen. Some of these cells also ingest the offender and break it down. The cells that serve as our bodies defense are leukocytes (white blood cells) they are created in the bone marrow. Though the immune system is an astounding biological system it is not "immune" to faults. There are many immune system disorders, the most common being allergies. An Allergy is caused when the immune system attacks something that is harmless and should ignore. Most allergies are mild but some can cause death when the immune system over reacts. A related disorder is asthma (which I have). A more serious disease is Autoimmune Disease. This disorder causes the immune system to attack the victims own cells.


sources: 
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000821.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/immunesystemanddisorders.html