The Immune System
Download
Report
Transcript The Immune System
The Immune System
The Body’s Defense
The Body’s Lines of Defense
The body has three lines of defense against pathogens:
1. Barriers - skin, breathing passages, mouth, and stomach
trap and kill most pathogens.
2. Inflammatory Response - fluid and some WBC’s leak
from blood vessels into tissues to fight pathogens.
The WBC’s are called phagocytes- they engulf and
destroy the pathogens.
Inflammatory responses include a red, swollen, warm
area and sometimes fever.
3. Immune Response- these cells can distinguish between
different kinds of pathogens and react to each kind with
a specific defense.
Lymphocytes
WBC’s that target specific pathogens are called lymphocytes.
2 major types:
1. T Cells- identify pathogens by recognizing their antigens.
Antigens are molecules that the immune system
recognizes as either a part of your body or coming
from outside your body.
2. B Cells- produce chemicals called antibodies.
Antibodies bind to antigens and destroy them.
Each kind of B Cell produces an antibody that can
only bind to one kind of antigen.
Non-Infectious Diseases
Non-Infectious diseases are NOT caused by micro-organisms
and are NOT spread from person to person.
1. Allergy- the immune system is overly sensitive to a foreign
substance- something not normally found in the body.
Allergen- any substance that causes an allergy: dust,
pollen, molds, some foods or medicines.
Histamine- chemical responsible for symptoms of
allergies, like sneezing or watery eyes.
Asthma- when the respiratory passages narrow causing
the person to wheeze and become short of breath.
Non-Infectious Diseases
2. Diabetes- when either your pancreas fails to produce enough
insulin or your body’s cells cannot use it properly. As a result,
there are high levels of glucose in the blood and glucose is
excreted in the urine. The body cells do not contain enough
glucose.
Insulin - produced by pancreas- chemical that enables your
cells to take in glucose from the blood and use it for energy.
Type I Diabetes- most serious- person needs insulin injections.
Type II Diabetes - controlled by diet, weight control, and
exercise.
Non-Infectious Diseases
3. Cancer - a disease in which cells multiply uncontrollably, over
and over, destroying healthy tissue in the process.
Tumors develop when a cancerous cell divides over and
over to form abnormal tissue masses.
Surgery, drugs, and radiation are used to treat cancer.
Carcinogens are substances or factors in the environment
that can cause cancer. Avoid carcinogens such as tobacco or
over-exposure to sunlight.
Infectious Diseases
Infectious diseases are disease that can pass from one
organism to another.
Pathogens are organisms that cause disease.
Diseases caused by pathogens are infectious.
The four major groups of human pathogens are:
1. Bacteria
2. Viruses
3. Fungi
4. Protists
Infectious Diseases
Bacteria- one-celled microorganisms
Examples include strep throat and tetanus.
Other bacterial pathogens produce a poison called a
toxin that damages cells.
Viruses- smallest pathogens
Cannot reproduce unless inside living cells.
When viruses infect cells, the cells are damaged or
destroyed, and the damaged cells release new
viruses to infect other cells.
Examples include influenza (flu), colds, chicken pox,
and AIDS.
Infectious Diseases
Fungi- example- athlete’s foot
Protist- example- malaria
Sources of pathogens include:
Another person - physical contact like shaking hands, or
indirect contact like sneezing or coughing.
Contaminated object - eating food, drinking water, or using
silverware that’s infected.
Animal Bite
Environment - tetanus and botulism live naturally in the
environment.
Preventing Infectious Disease
Immunity- the body’s ability to destroy pathogens
before they can cause disease
Two types of immunity:
1. Active- antibodies come from the person
2. Passive- antibodies come from outside the person
Preventing Infectious Disease
1. Active Immunity -occurs when a person’s own immune
system produces antibodies in response to the presence of
a pathogen.
T Cells and B Cells help destroy pathogens and keep a
“memory” of the pathogen’s antigen.
Lasts for many years and sometimes for life. Ex: chicken
pox.
Vaccination - (immunization)- harmless antigens are
deliberately introduced to a person’s body to produce active
immunity.
Vaccine - the substance used in vaccinations. Consists of
pathogens that have been weakened or killed.
Preventing Infectious Disease
2. Passive Immunity - when the antibodies that fight the
pathogen come from another source rather than the
person’s own body
Lasts no more than a few months.
Babies acquire passive immunity to some diseases
before birth from their mother.
You develop immunity from some diseases because you
have had them before or you have been vaccinated. You
will still become sick from them from time to time.
Antibiotics - chemicals that kill or slow down the growth
of bacteria.
No medications cure viral illnesses!!