The Human Body is an oasis of life. Still, every waking moment of our lives, our bodies endure vicious attacks. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, microbes, toxins, and parasites - I like to think of them as invaders from the outside world. Each invader is equipped with its own specialized method of attack. On a microscopic level, our bodies fight a life-long war. As the battle rages, our immune system kicks in and protects us against the perils of illness. The immune system is not made up of one particular tissue or organ. Instead, an arsenal of defense cells; including lymphocytes, bone marrow, and leukocytes join forces to keep us healthy. Besides the occasional times we get caught in the crossfire with a common cold, a healthy immune system keeps …show more content…
There are more than a hundred autoimmune diseases. There are approximately 50 million people living with some form of an autoimmune disease in America. Depending on the type, an autoimmune disease can cause many different parts of your body to go under siege. Some of the most common autoimmune diseases are Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Multiple Sclerosis, and Rheumatoid arthritis. The current medical system does not recognize Autoimmune illnesses as diseases of the immune system. Instead, they are classified as diseases of the specific organ that is affected. For example, someone with Celiac disease would see a gastroenterologist instead of someone who specializes in immune disorders. Even if a disease falls under the broad umbrella of immune disorder, there is not a unified medical treatment in order. each specialist has their own method of approach. My friend Mia Washington was diagnosed with Graves' disease at the tender age of 14. It was a frightening moment for her single working mother. As Mia's friend, it was a shock to me too. The odds weren't in our favor. Mia was always a sickly child, but soon after her diagnosis, she began to …show more content…
Even so, we are not burdened with the reminder of our impending demise. The millions of people living with an autoimmune disease do not have this luxury. (Along the way, their bodies went rogue and began attacking the very cells designed to keep them alive.) In school, we learned about different kinds of literary conflict- Man vs. Man, Man vs. Society, Man vs. Nature, and lastly Man vs Self. Man vs Self is distinguished from the rest as a vast and complex internal struggle. In this scenario, a character must overcome his own nature in order to reach a goal in his or her life. People living with autoimmune disorders have to deal with self-conflict every day of their lives. They are tormented with the internal combat to sustain life as their bodies' intentionally decline. Even with this lingering burden of their progressing demise, they still wake up and choose to fight every day. We all have something in our lives that makes life hard. Whether that be a citizenship status, a physical disability or a life-threatening illness; we can overcome. That is the greatest lesson we can all learn from Mia and other people affected by
Lupus is a rare and crippleing disease. This disease is as rare as it is hard to undertand. Lupus being a not well known disease is hard to pinpoint. This disease causes insufferable pain and body problems. Such a terrible disease causes syptoms like swelling muscles, joint pains, general inflamations, organ failures, and overall fatigue. Lupus is an autoimmune disease ( AKA the autoimmune sytem attacking itself). This autoimmune disease is most common in youge woman in birth bearing age. With little known reason
A disorder where the body is attacking itself is known as an autoimmune disorder. In an autoimmune disorder the body cannot decipher between a pathogen, bacteria, or infection attacking the body and normal healthy body tissue. The majority of autoimmune disorders are long lasting or even permanent. An example of a chronic autoimmune disorder is multiple sclerosis (MS).
One in every 20 Americans suffer from at least one autoimmune disease. So there is a good chance that you or someone you know is suffering from one of these diseases right now.
The body’s protection against viruses, bacteria and other types of invasions is our immune system (Tortora, 2014).
To understand autoimmune diseases, the general characteristic of autoimmunity must be addressed. Autoimmunity is defined, in short, as “ misdirected immune response”. A healthy person is equipped with the mechanisms necessary to defend the body from pathogens within the immune system. When autoimmunity is present in an individual, something within the immune system is
The immune system is made up of trillions of specialised cells (white blood cells) that detect and destroy pathogens or their toxins. Some white blood cells, which are
Humans experienced numerous problems throughout history. Some of these problems were natural disasters, war, hunger, or diseases. Nevertheless, these problems are caused by nature or other humans, but now humans recognized another problem that is caused by the human himself, it is called autoimmune diseases when the human himself becomes the enemy. One of the most known autoimmune diseases is lupus that has many characteristics and symptoms that can affect someone's life greatly.
Our bodies were specifically designed to fight off diseases organically through the use of our immune system. When an antigen enters our bodies, our immune system immediately acknowledges its presence and produces antibodies to fight off the foreign organism. The antibodies will search for the disease organism and will dismantle it when found. The next time the body comes in contact with
An Autoimmune disease is very serious condition that affects millions of people around the world. Lupus is one of those Autoimmune diseases.
Lupus crept into my life when I was least expecting it, but when it came, it pierced my life and my body. At the most unsuspecting moments, my back ignites in flames and my joints swell up, augmenting my pain to the extent where my entire body becomes numb. Weekly doctor visits, bi-weekly therapy
Most lupus patients are followed very closely by many different types of physicians and specialist due to the multisystem organ involvement. These doctors may include but are not limited to Rheumatologist who specializes in diseases of the joints; there are also Nephrologists the kidney doctor, the Optometrist doctor for the eyes, the Neurologist for the brain and central nervous system, the Cardiologist for the heart and the Primary Care Physician. All of these doctors work together to manage S.L.E. It literally takes a team to help the patient manage and cope with the changes someone with lupus will undergo throughout the entire disease process.
With autoimmune diseases, the underlying issue is similar. The body's immune system becomes unable to recognize healthy cells from diseased cells. Consequently, the immune’s own defense mechanism produces antibodies that attack the normal tissues and cells. Autoimmune diseases
Have you ever wondered how your body works? Did you ever think about how your body defends itself from outside invaders? Remember the last time you were sick. Did you know how your body fought and killed the sickness? All these questions can be answered by learning about one of the most important systems in your body, the immune system.
The immune system depends on the body’s structures to help it function. For instance, the skin acts as the “body’s first line of defense.” If a pathogen finds a breach in the skin barrier, it is the circulatory system that must now signal the immune system of the invader. Shortly after, white blood cells will be notified of the infection and will target and destroy the pathogen.
Our immune system is the second most complex system in our body. It is made up of organs, cells and proteins that work together to protect our bodies from harmful bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms that can cause diseases. Usually we don’t notice our immune system defending us against pathogens, but if the pathogen (harmful microorganism) is aggressive or if our body hasn’t ever come into contact with it, we can get sick. The jobs of our immune system are to recognise pathogens, as well as neutralise and remove them from our body. Our immune system also has to fight our own cells if they have changed due to an illness, for example, cancer. (1)