Red blood cells are used by the blood to transport oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. These cells die every 120 days, and new cells are made to replace them. Without this constant cycle of cellular birth and rebirth, our tissues, bones and...
The Immunology Department of Western Kentucky University reports on Bioweb that the body produces more than 5 million B cells every day that enter the bloodstream and lymphatic system. B cells perform the role of immune surveillance and...
The scientists of the Human Genome Project estimate that all humans have approximately 20,000 to 25,000 genes, each containing the biological recipe for a different protein. The distinct shapes of various proteins enable them to perform specific...
If adverse reactions develop after you eat or touch tomatoes, you may have an allergy to the vegetable. Food allergies affects about between 4 and 8 percent of children and 2 percent of the adult American population, according the University of...
The immune system protects the body against infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. It also plays a very important role in defending the body against certain types of cancer. Some of the most common defender cells of the...
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to help kill cancer cells, and a drug called interleukin-2, or IL-2, is one of these drugs. IL-2, typically used to treat cancers such as skin melanomas and kidney cancer, is being studied to see if it is effective...
Eyebrow loss is a form of alopecia areata, a condition causing excess hair loss on the scalp and face. Alopecia areata occurs when immune system cells attack individual hair follicles, thereby killing them and retarding hair growth, according to...
In 2008, about 2 million people, including 280,000 children, lost their lives to autoimmune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 18,000...
An infection involves the colonization of tissues in the body by bacteria, viruses or fungi. During the infection process, the infectious agent enters the body, identifies cells containing specific factors that facilitate infection, and then...
Coenzyme Q10, also called Co Q10 or ubiquinone, is an enzyme found in mitochondria that plays an important role in producing energy in all human cells. Cell culture and laboratory studies have found that coenzyme Q10 may be useful in managing some...
Your immune system consists of a intricate network of organs, hormones, and cells that collectively work to protect your body from disease-causing microorganisms, including viruses and bacteria. If your immune system is weak, you are more...
The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues and organs working together to defend the body against foreign invaders. The workhorse cells of the immune system are the white blood cells (WBC). They consist of both specific and...
Chemotherapy treatment is the use of cytotoxic drugs to treat disease. Upon entering the cell, chemo drugs often interfere with proteins or molecules within cells and tissues, rendering the cell unable to proliferate. In some cases, the drugs also...
Weight cycling is the repeated loss and regain of body weight that often results from yo-yo dieting or going on and off a weight loss plan. There are health implications to weight cycling regardless of how many pounds are lost and then gained....
Caffeine is commonly used to help you wake up or provide you with increased energy, but if you develop a swollen neck after consuming the substance you will need to call for medical attention. Neck swelling is the result of an extreme allergic...
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) chemotherapy is used in the treatment of bladder cancer and also as a vaccine for tuberculosis, according to ChemoCare. It is put directly into the bladder through a catheter as an outpatient procedure.
Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle and encompasses many types of activities and sports. In addition to the visible benefits of exercise, such as physical fitness, the internal workings of the body benefit from exercise as well. Regular,...
The immune system is the body's first line of defense against disease. It contains cells that protect the body from allergens, viruses, bacteria and other potentially harmful micro-organisms. When the immune system is weakened, pathogens thrive,...
The National Cancer Institute says non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a group of cancers of the lymphatic system. This system includes certain infection-fighting white blood cells called, lymphocytes, the lymph nodes and network of lymph vessels, and the...
The immune system is a complex structure composed of different proteins and special cells that help protect the body against infections and other foreign invaders. White blood cells are the main type of cells responsible for attacking organisms...
Antibodies are a type of specialized protein generated by the immune system. Antibodies each contain two heavy chain proteins, which link to two smaller light chain proteins. The light chain contains a variable region that allows for an antibody...
Recognized in the early 1980s, HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions with more than 33 million infected individuals worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Although no cure or vaccine exists, advances in science and medicine and...
Eat your bacteria if you want to avoid getting sick. That's the message you might glean from information about the effects of probiotic bacteria on your immune system, the part of your body that fights disease and heals injury. Active probiotics...
The breasts are made up of glandular tissue organized into lobules and ducts, surrounded by fat, lymph nodes, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels. Each breast is surrounded by a large number of lymph nodes, including a number of lymph nodes in the...
There is a dynamic interplay between cholesterol and your immune system. If studies recent to 2011 are correct, cholesterol and the immune system react with each other to try and prevent the spread of infection. Scientists are pondering whether...
Cortisol is a hormone that, according to the Cambridge Encyclopedia, has a natural cycling in the body known as diurnal variation which means that its levels are partly controlled by sleeping. Normally, cortisol is at its highest levels in the...
The onset of diabetes may be accompanied by many types of diabetes symptoms. But the American Diabetes Association warns that diabetes may also arrive quietly, with many of the symptoms overlooked as mild annoyances. The Mayo Clinic warns that...
Blood cancer is a term that includes leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. These cancers start in the bone marrow or lymphatic tissue, with a new blood cancer being diagnosed every four minutes, says the Leukemia and Lymphoma...
The immune system has multiple roles in the body, including preventing and treating infection. Like other parts of the body, the cells of the immune system need normal levels of a number of vitamins to function at full capacity. Vitamins that are...
