Transcript How our body fights to keep us healthy

How our body fights to keep
us healthy
And how we can help it!
How the body becomes ill
The body can become ill because of –
a. Bacteria
b. Viruses
What can bacteria cause if
they get into the body?
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Stomach ache
Tooth decay
Spots
Infected cuts
Food poisoning
Cholera
What can viruses cause if
they get into the body?
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Chicken pox
Colds
Measles
Mumps
Whooping cough
Common cold virus
What happens when microbes
gets past the first line of defence
• The body constantly makes defence cells to
fight microbes. It keeps a store of them
• It makes many different kinds of defence
cells to cope with all the different kinds of
microbes and the different ways they can
attack the body - some can be very sneaky!*
Let’s look at three of the defence
cells
• Neutrophils – found in the blood stream.
They are on the look out for microbes. When
they find them they release chemicals that kill
the germs but they die also – not to worry as
the body makes about 5 thousand million
every hour!!
Different kinds of defence cells
• Macrophages – they capture and eat the
microbes, they also clean up any dust and dirt
that gets into our body through breathing.
Therefore there are lots of them to be found in
the lungs.
Macrophage
Different kinds of defence cells
• Some defender cells make antibodies*
that sticks to microbes and which
Neutrophils and Macrophages are now able
to remove.
The Immune System
• All the defender cells are part of our
Immune System.
• Sometimes though, the immune system
needs help and that is when the doctor
may prescribe an antibiotic. Antibiotics can
only kill bacteria they cannot kill viruses.
Video on the Immune System
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click on the immune cells
What we can do to prevent getting infected by
bacteria and viruses
• Hygiene - Wash hands, use a tissue etc
• Eat healthy food to keep defender cells fighting
fit and help good bacteria in body
• Eat good bacteria
• Exercise to help remove waste from body and
keep lymph flowing
• Vaccinations
Vaccinations
• Scientist* found a way to protect us against some of the
diseases that can make us ill
• It all began with a doctor called Edward Jenner….
• The vaccinations have a weak form of the virus.
• When injected into our body it makes our white blood
cells react as if the virus is still dangerous and makes
antibodies
• The virus is too weak to make us ill but now we have
antibodies ready so if the original measles virus gets into
our body we already have the weapon to attack it
straight away and so we do not get ill or only feel mildly
unwell
Good bacteria
Not all bacteria hurt us some help us, some live in
our intestines they help by;
• Making a waste product that we need
and can use e.g. vitamins – Biotin, Folic
Acid, Vit B12
• Making Vitamin K which helps the blood
to clot
• Strengthening our immune system to
fight the bad germs – or even directly
attacking and digesting some of the
bad germs in the gut
Where do the good bacteria
come from?
They are all around us
• Raw foods e.g. on skins of grapes
• In live Probiotic yoghurts and yoghurt
drinks like Yakhult
• Passed from mum to baby
What we can do to increase the
good bacteria?
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Eat them – through live yoghurts etc
Dried form in capsules
Feed them by eating -
- Whole oats and other whole grains
- Fresh vegetables e.g.wheatgrass to chicory,
cabbage, onions, leeks and asparagus
- Pumpkin, sunflower and other seeds;
- Lignans in liquids like olive oil and aloe vera.
- Fresh and dried fruits like bananas and apricots.
Allergies
Sometimes the defender cells get it
wrong
• When this happens it can trigger hay fever
or asthma - difficulty breathing properly,
sneezing, itchy eyes, etc.
Why this happens
• When pollen, dust, cats and dogs skin cells
are breathed in some people’s defender cells
think these are harmful and make antibodies
that stick onto defender cells called
Basophils.
• When next time any of these things are
breathed in by a person whose Basophils
contain an antibody specific for one of them
then the Basophils explode as they meets
the pollen grains and release cell-destroying
chemicals that make you have the symptoms
of hay fever.