Natural Immunity

The body's third line of defense against disease is immunity, a group of mechanisms that help protect the body against specific diseases. Immunity is the body's most efficient diseases preventing weapon,  it may be called on to help fight either a viral infection or a bacterial one.

We have saw an intriguing pattern - an invader attacks the body but then turns around and heps bring about in own destruction. Natural works in somewhat the same way. When an invading microorganism (here called antigen) enters the body, it stimulates the body to produce certain chemical substances called antibodies that can inactivate the microorganisms. Antibodies work only on the specific antigens that trigger them.

Measles antibodies work only on the measles virus that triggers them, mumps antibodies on the mumps virus that triggers them, and so on. There are ever a million different specific antibodies - each capable of fighting just one antigen. That invading substances - antigen - that can stimulate the body to take action in this way.

In the immune mechanism, as in the inflammatory response, white blood cells come to the rescue. But here the protective white blood cells are of a type known as lymphocytes. Within the category are a number of key subtype,