How the immune system fights off invaders, from splinters to vaccines
Our immune systems consist of two parts: the innate (or general) immune system and the adaptive (or acquired) immune system. In this video, family physician Dr. Erica Zelfand explains the basics of these two systems, illuminating how they each fight germs (like bacteria, viruses, and fungi) and foreign substances (like chemicals and splinters). Dr. Zelfand also defines: antigens, antibodies, inflammation, phagocytes, natural killer cells, B cells, and T cells, and explains the brilliant cascade by which the innate and adaptive immune systems work together to protect us from illness year-round and life-long. Brief explanations of immunological memory and vaccination are also included herein.
Children’s Multivitamins: Are They Really Necessary?
The case for pediatric supplementation “Why do kids love carbs and dairy so much?” my mother asks me, exasperated after her latest thwarted attempt to get her grandchildren to eat more nutritious fare. “We’re actually lucky,” I tell her between bites of the cold broccoli the kids left behind, “at least these kiddos eat…
Vaccine Efficacy, Part 2 of 2: Can a Healthy Gut Microbiome Improve It?
The influence of probiotics on the immune response Vaccines are among the greatest successes of modern medicine, helping to protect entire populations against a wide range of infectious diseases.[1] However, there is considerable variation in the efficacy of vaccines amongst individuals.[2] The magnitude of antibody titers induced in individuals receiving the seasonal influenza vaccine,…
Clinical Approaches to Herxheimer Reactions
Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing insect-borne infectious diseases in the United States. [1] The majority of infections occur following a bite from a deer tick carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, or one of its subspecies. Acute Lyme disease is often treated relatively easily when caught early, but newer research suggests that Lyme disease…
