By Jayashree Mani, MS, CCN
The various organs and cells of the immune system (e.g., spleen, lymph nodes, immune cells) protect against disease, defend against foreign particles, and repair constantly. The key players in the immune system are the white blood cells. They travel throughout the body via blood vessels, searching for microbes and foreign particles.
Simply put, once an invader is found, the white blood cells, through a complex process, attack and neutralize the foreign particles to remove the threat. The lymph nodes and spleen serve as stores for immune cells, and help to neutralize, filter, and remove offending antigens from the body.
The current pandemic has certainly put the functioning of the immune system to test but also has brought to light the intricate pathways involved.
How do COVID-19 vaccines work?
The COVID-19 vaccines induce neutralizing antibodies that circulate in the body, recognize, and bind to the virus, preventing it from entering cells and replicating. This is important, because once the virus enters a cell, it is no longer accessible to the antibodies that were present outside, and it’s free to replicate and cause damage. This is where the individual’s immune status becomes crucial. The immune system functions more as an orchestra than a single instrument and its response to the vaccine can be robust or weak, or anywhere in between.
Variants
The key immune cells, B cells and T cells, are among the fastest replicating cells in the body. They multiply for several days to produce enough cells to neutralize an infection. If the virus is 2-3 days faster (as with the Delta variant) it becomes much harder for the B and T cells to stop the virus fast enough to prevent symptoms (and transmission). The Delta variant puts a greater burden on the neutralizing antibodies to stop the virus. But even if it gets past the vaccine antibody line of defense and enters cells, T cells can still defend the body by killing and removing the infected cell.
Thus, it’s important to support the innate and adaptive immune systems, so they can respond maximally when faced with the virus.
Many people have growing concerns and uncertainty about the risk posed by the new variants. Viruses are promiscuous by nature; they constantly evolve and perhaps there will be additional variants in the future. The current variants do appear to spread faster yet may not necessarily be more aggressive. While people who are fully vaccinated may still be infected by a different strain of the virus, it is heartening to see that initial reports show re-infected vaccinated people having mild illness. Plus, it is vital that we do all we can to nurture the protection mechanisms we already have.
The immune system protects those who protect themselves
There is much that innately protects healthy people, from skin to mucosa. This elective protection continues with first line immune defense and repair systems that gobble up, break down and recycle foreign invaders, including viruses and other infectious items. However, too many people are in survival mode. They are not electively protecting themselves.
They have co-morbidities affecting their lungs, heart, nervous system, blood vessels and all organs; and the presence of these co-morbidities means they have too little of the essential nutrients needed for the body to function well. Co-morbidities also often indicate the presence of anti-nutrients and stress that deplete needed health factors.
People can increase or decrease their risk of serious illness from Sars COV2 or any RNA virus based on their sufficiency of essential nutrients that must be taken in because the body cannot make them on its own.
Consider nature’s Alkaline Way™ for the immune system
Whether vaccinated or not, we recommend following the nature’s Alkaline Way program to fully support and nourish the immune system.
- The risk reduction e-book offered at the start of concern about COVID-19 remains a valuable guide for those who want to be proactive to avoid dispositions and co-morbidities linked to all the serious cases analyzed thus far. Multiple updates have strengthened the specific health promotion, risk reduction guidance offered and we have been encouraged by the anecdotal support for this approach. Learn more:
Don’t Just Avoid The Virus Defeat It By Strengthening Your Immunity
A User’s Guide to Vitamin C in the Context of COVID-19 - In addition, we continue to suggest incorporating the 4 personal self-assessments and progressing to the 8 predictive biomarkers of lifetime health, especially LRA testing by ELISA/ACT®
Now is the time to invest in self-care, personal care and cultivating healthier habits for life. Small steps bring rewards. Multiple small steps multiply the benefits. Consider COVID-19 a wake-up call to invest in personal and social health.
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