Your body's first line of defence

The immune system

It’s impossible to completely avoid germs, harmful bacteria, and viruses. Because of this, your body has specially developed immune cells that cooperate to prevent and fight disease.

Your immune system consists of eight types of white blood cells: neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes and lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are created by the immune system to defend the body against viruses and pathogens, cancerous cells and foreign matter. They have the ability to detect and identify antigens before cells are infected, as well as destroy already infected or cancerous cells. There are three main types of lymphocytes:

T cells help to terminate infected cells and also sound the alarm to let other immune cells know that pathogens are in the body. B cells produce antibodies to help counter disease. They also assist in building up long term immunity. NK cells circulate in your blood, and when they come across a cancerous cell, or a cell which contains a virus, they destroy it.

What are natural killer cells?

Natural Killer cells (or NK cells) are considered one of the immune system’s most potent defences. They circulate throughout the bloodstream, searching for tumour cells, or cells which contains a virus. If they find one, they will surround it and destroy it by releasing a chemical which breaks down the membrane of the diseased cell, causing it to burst the cell and destroy it completely.

Cancer and immunity

There are about 60 trillion cells in the human body: growing, replicating and repairing to keep you fully-functional and at optimum health. Because millions of cells are replicating all the time, some may multiply inaccurately. This leads to mutation on a cellular level and the formation of cancerous cells.

Usually, this isn’t anything to be worried about. Many people go their whole lives without these mutated cells developing into cancerous growths. With a strong immune system, cancer is much less of a threat, because of your body’s natural defensive response which combats these abnormal cells.

The importance of active NK cells

As you age, or are exposed to stress, your NK cells become less effective. This can compromise your immune system enough to allow these mutated cells to slip through your body’s defences and develop into potentially life-threatening cancers.

In a healthy individual, NK cells would be alerted to cancerous cells and destroy them before any harm is done.

This means that having a high level of active NK cells in the body is a key indicator for a strong immune system and, by extension, a healthy body. The stronger your immune system, the less likely you are to get ill or degenerate into a disease state.

The immune system

It’s impossible to completely avoid germs, harmful bacteria, and viruses. Because of this, your body has specially developed immune cells that cooperate to prevent and fight disease.

Your immune system consists of eight types of white blood cells: neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes and lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are created by the immune system to defend the body against viruses and pathogens, cancerous cells and foreign matter. They have the ability to detect and identify antigens before cells are infected, as well as destroy already infected or cancerous cells. There are three main types of lymphocytes:

T cells help to terminate infected cells and also sound the alarm to let other immune cells know that pathogens are in the body. B cells produce antibodies to help counter disease. They also assist in building up long term immunity. NK cells circulate in your blood, and when they come across a cancerous cell, or a cell which contains a virus, they destroy it.

What are natural killer cells?

Natural Killer cells (or NK cells) are considered one of the immune system’s most potent defences. They circulate throughout the bloodstream, searching for tumour cells, or cells which contains a virus. If they find one, they will surround it and destroy it by releasing a chemical which breaks down the membrane of the diseased cell, causing it to burst the cell and destroy it completely.

Cancer and immunity

There are about 60 trillion cells in the human body: growing, replicating and repairing to keep you fully-functional and at optimum health. Because millions of cells are replicating all the time, some may multiply inaccurately. This leads to mutation on a cellular level and the formation of cancerous cells.

Usually, this isn’t anything to be worried about. Many people go their whole lives without these mutated cells developing into cancerous growths. With a strong immune system, cancer is much less of a threat, because of your body’s natural defensive response which combats these abnormal cells.

The importance of active NK cells

As you age, or are exposed to stress, your NK cells become less effective. This can compromise your immune system enough to allow these mutated cells to slip through your body’s defences and develop into potentially life-threatening cancers.

In a healthy individual, NK cells would be alerted to cancerous cells and destroy them before any harm is done.

This means that having a high level of active NK cells in the body is a key indicator for a strong immune system and, by extension, a healthy body. The stronger your immune system, the less likely you are to get ill or degenerate into a disease state.