Having been moving through one of the most layered and complex “cold/flu” bugs I’ve ever come across over the course of the last week, I cannot help but give thought and credit to one of the greatest marvels of creation: the immune system.
The immune system is one of the most complex and interesting systems of the body. Without it, you cannot live for long on earth. When it is compromised, so too is your health. When it is healthy and functioning as it was designed, you can interact with the world around you with relative impunity.
Current thinking on the immune system breaks it down into three primary components: innate, acquired and passive. Your cough reflex, tears, skin, mucus, enzymes in tears and skin oils as well as the wide variety of innate humoral immunity (e.g. interferon and interleukin-1 which causes fever), are all part of your innate immune system. Your acquired immune system is immunity that develops when you are exposed to various antigens. And your passive immune system includes certain types of white blood cells, blood chemicals and proteins and it plays a dual role of directly attacking xenobiotics and complementing the other forms of immunity.
Proper nutrition goes a long way to building a healthy immune system, but so too does letting your immune system do its job. We’ve learned a lot about nutrition over the last few decades and my impression is that we are on the verge of another series of important discoveries that will come as a result of the growing body of scientific research in this area. We’ve also come to learn the importance of the proper balance of rest and exertion, though few in the industrialized nations manage to arrange their lives in a way that allows for rest. Modern society seems to demand constant stimulation.
What we’ve failed to recognize as a society, however, is the enormous power of the acquired immune system. We are trained now from a very young age to suppress the very system that is learning its way around the constantly changing environment. Have a fever? Take an aspirin. Sore throat? Whip out the z-pack. Mucus congestion? Take an expectorant. Troublesome cough? Reach for the ol’ syrup. But at what cost?
Remember that the acquired immune system depends on its exposure to and successful handling of viruses and bacteria that are foreign to the body for it to learn and grow stronger. If you arbitrarily short-circuit that process because of the discomfort, inconvenience or fear of it getting worse, you not only limit your acquired immunity you also prevent your body from dealing with the antigen in the most elegant, efficient and safe manner it knows how. You may address what you thought was the problem (runny nose, fever, etc.) but in so doing you are stripping the body of its most elegant solution to handling the invader.
One of the central challenges we face in health care – one that has significant implications for our future ability as a race to deal with the environment – is that of restoring balance in the way we work with our acquired immune systems. This is obviously a complex subject, but my impression is that the “suppress now, rest later” mentality we’ve come to accept over time is not always the best approach.
Gregory Hake 
I would venture to bet that we haven’t yet seen the full effects of the suppression strategy on the immune system, both individually and globally. Although there are times when we need to take a more aggressive approach to our health, it’s also important to understand the function of our immune system and give it a chance to strengthen as it was designed to.
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I note recent ads for combination products that vie for the reputation of supressing multiple symptoms at once. As a society we have become so accustomed to this approach, kicking the can down the road so that toxic problems are driven more and more deeply into the cells and our bodies are forced to compensate in increasingly convoluted ways. Your post is an excellent summary of the immune system, or systems – a good example of the elegance of design we see in our bodies and in all living things!
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Terrific explanation of the immune system, thanks. Another great example that robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a sound long term strategy.
Hope you’re feelIng better!
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Wow am I guilty of that. Resting is not an experience I am familiar with. Even on a “planned rest” like a vacation or weekend I never let myself dial down. The older I get the more I realize the folly of that, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. I’m realizing rest is not mearly distracting myself from my usual chores but engaging with appreciation or satisfaction from the depth of my heart. Yoga has helped with this.
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Great points. I agree the “suppress now” mentality does need reevaluation. I went “cold turkey” myself during a recent flu (:
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That’s one of the main points to this dilemma we face – affording the body its natural requirements for repair and recovery – proper nutrition, fitness and rest. In my practice, I spend more time on these three areas than any other, emphasizing these basic requirements over and over again. It’s funny how we’ve grown to overlook them as a culture, as a society in these modern times and we’re left with dealing with the symptoms of being run down – all sorts of immune problems, all kinds of hormonal problems come as a result from accumulated stressors. Then we’re quick to deal with these symptoms in a patchwork kind of way, never taking the time to focus on what would really resolve them. Drugs of all kinds have emerged to ‘deal with these problems’ and guess what, the problems haven’t gone away; in fact, they are getting worse. New diseases, new syndromes seem to be coined faster than one can even keep up with! Of course genetics take the full brunt of the cause which further conditions the belief that we can’t do anything about it and that we need palliative care. People even become proud to rattle off whatever genetic ‘defect’ they have been diagnosed with. Lots of twists and turns in this maze that is health today.
A complex topic indeed, but one that can be made much simpler were we to take a different approach. I remain quite optimistic in the trends that I’m seeing in my industry though, for more folks are reaching outside of convention, seriously questioning the current practice of medicine. If something is true and right, it will stand up to question so there’s no need to be defensive. Unbiased scrutiny done ethically can only serve to improve things which is always helpful to further progress.
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