Your Immune System

Excerpted from
Natural Choices for Women's Health : How the Secrets of Natural and Chinese Medicine Can Create a Lifetime of Wellness
By Dr. Laurie Steelsmith

Have you ever wondered why some of us can go for years without being sick, while others seem to come down with every cold that comes along? It ten people are in a crowded elevator and someone with the flu sneezes, why do some people "catch" it while others don't? Much of the answer lies in the strength of our immune systems. A healthy immune system allows you to maintain mental and emotional clarity, preserve your physical well-being, and ultimately achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams. But your immunity is not a given. You make choices, on a daily basis, that either strengthen or weaken your immune system's ability to protect you. If you make the right choices and your immunity is optimal, you have abundant health and energy. If you choose poorly, your whole life suffers-when your immune system is weak, you are less able to handle stress and are more susceptible to sickness, and if your immune system remains depressed for a prolonged period, you are more likely to suffer from a serious disease such as breast cancer, arthritis, or an autoimmune disorder.

Too often people take drugs to mask their symptoms of physical and emotional imbalance. A symptom is a messenger from your immune system, bringing you information about your body. Whether the messenger is gently tugging at your elbow or screaming to get your attention, you will benefit by listening carefully to what it is trying to communicate. Taking drugs can be a way of destroying the messenger and missing the message. In the long run, this can be extremely counterproductive.

I'm always astonished, for instance, when a physician prescribes a decongestant to a patient with a dripping nose who is fighting a cold. A dripping nose is an unmistakable sign that the immune system is doing an excellent job at eliminating a foreign irritant (virus or bacterial infection). If you take a decongestant, it dries up your mucous membranes and prevents your immune system from doing its duty. Through the Naturally Healthy Lifestyle, I emphasize working with your immune system, not against it. If you have a cold, it is best to support your body's natural ability to fight the infection by using herbs and nutrients that gently push your immune system into action. Instead of prescribing a decongestant, I recommend that you help your body eliminate the foreign irritant by steaming with eucalyptus, drinking plenty of hot fluids, taking supplements to assist with thinning out mucous secretions, and using other methods that will encourage your ability to effectively fight the cold itself-as opposed to ineffectively fighting the symptom.

As you will find elsewhere in this book, you can use natural medicine to work with your immune system rather than against it in countless other ways. For instance, if you have a fever less than 104 degrees, I recommend that you don't suppress it with aspirin (as many conventionally trained Western doctors advise) be cause the fever is your body's natural way of defending itself against an infection. You will get better much more quickly by supporting your body through the fever, using therapies and medicines that help you light the infection by stimulating your immune system, than by taking drugs that can hinder your body's innate ability to restore your health.

Your immunity is the protector of your health and vitality, critical to your capacity to feel fully alive-physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Are you protecting your protector?

Immune System View from the West

From the Western viewpoint, taking care of your immune system means taking care of every aspect of your health. The specific treatments and techniques that you'll find in this chapter-from nutritional supplementation to stress management-are the basic tools you need to do so. By using these tools, you can build a strong protective shield to serve you now and in the future.

You are exposed to thousands of bacteria and viruses every day, but your immune system prevents them from occupying your body. It performs so outstandingly-well that many aspects of Immunity are still a mystery to modern medicine, but we do know that diet, hormones, lifestyle, emotions, and ability to detoxify can ail have a powerful effect on maintaining strong immunity. The reason is that your immune system includes millions of white blood cells that destroy both abnormal cells and foreign invaders such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites-and white blood cells function at their best when you take really good care of yourself.

White blood cells emanate from your bone marrow throughout your life, and some of them migrate from there to your thymus gland, where they reach maturity. Your thymus gland, which is located just behind your breastbone, is essential to your immune system. It creates mature white blood cells that can help you fight infections. Some of your other white blood cells make antibodies to foreign invaders. These antibodies have a remarkable memory; you make them when you have an infection, and they protect you if you are ever exposed to the same foreign invader again.

Many of your white blood cells travel in your lymph system, a network of vessels linked together like a drainage system. Along some of the larger vessels are lymph nodes, such as the ones you can feel as small lumps in your armpit or under your jaw. These lymph nodes are packed with white blood cells that fight off foreign invaders. The lymph system, which drains lymph fluids front all over your body back to the bloodstream, relics on your bodily movements to circulate lymph fluids. This is one reason why regular exercise is great for your immunity: it forces your lymph fluid to move through your body. When your lymph fluid becomes stagnant, you feel sluggish and you can experience swelling in your tissues.

Although taking really good care of yourself in general will help boost your white blood cells and therefore your immunity, keeping your skin and tissues healthy is also critical. Your skin and the delicate mucous membranes that line your mouth, sinuses, throat, and genitals are your outermost barriers to foreign invaders; when their integrity is disrupted, you are more vulnerable to infections. Your sinuses, for example, can act as a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria; an irritated urinary tract may make you more prone to a bladder infection.

Hormones also play a unique role in immunity When you experience stress, your body releases certain hormones, such as Cortisol, that can suppress your immune system. In addition, your immune system can be adversely affected by certain changes in your estrogen and progesterone levels and a lowered thyroid gland function.