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| blood cells that originate in bone marrow and play a major role in the immune response. Some lymphocytes migrate to the thymus, where they develop into specialized types of immune cells. Some of these specialized cells gather in lymph nodes and other immune organs, including the spleen, tonsils, adenoids, appendix, and small intestine. Meanwhile, other white blood cells circulate throughout the blood and lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic vessels transport lymph, a colorless fluid that carries microorganisms and dead cells from distant infections into lymph nodes where they can be eliminated. Lymphatic vessels also transport white blood cells to infection sites throughout the body. |
| There are two general branches of the immune system that work together: humoral immunity and cell-mediated or cellular immunity. Humoral immunity relies on production of the antibodies produced from white blood cells, called B-lymphocytes. B-lymphocytes create a specific antibody for a specific antigen and form a memory that allows it to always remember that particular antigen and to be able to engulf and destroy it. With each exposure to an antigen, the immune system forms B- and T-''memory'' cells. After recovery from chicken pox, for example, the immune system stores a few B- and T-memory cells for chicken pox. The next time the virus is contracted, memory cells multiply rapidly to stop the infection before it starts. |
| Vaccines work because of the immune system's ability to "remember." Memory cells can provide immunity for years, sometimes even for a lifetime. In the process of vaccination, dead or weakened live forms of an infectious organism stimulate the response of antibodies without causing the accompanying illness, but also without activating a cell-mediated immune response. |
| I believe that this weakens our overall immune system, fooling it into responding to a particular antibody response while perhaps causing confusion when the immune system is confronted with other unrecognized invaders or, even more disastrous, self-produced genetically damaged cells that are proliferating. In other words, it's possible that the immune system may fail to attack viral or cancerous cells because it is waiting for a vaccine to cause an antibody response rather than immediately issuing its own cell-mediated response (which, by the way, may cause an immune reaction without ever forming antibodies). More than a hundred years ago, Eli Jones considered vaccinations a significant cause of the rise in cancer, second only to the effects of fear and unrelenting stress to the nervous system. |
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