Immune Support Online

The lungs and the airways leading to them are particularly vulnerable to infections. Imagine needing to defend an area the size of a tennis court, the surface area of our lungs, which we use to absorb oxygen and rid ourselves of carbon dioxide. Fortunately, the passages from the outside air leading to the lungs are designed to trap potential pathogens: viruses and bacteria.

Many of these traps are physical in nature, like the turbulence produced in the nasal passages. As the inspired air twists through these passages, it strikes the walls and many of the particles get trapped.

Mucus, produced by specialized cells lining the airway walls is sticky and traps a great deal of the inhaled dust, pollen, bacteria and viruses.

When we get a 'cold' , the increased mucus production aids us in eliminating the virus, thus helping with the healing. In our zeal to reduce symptoms by resorting to medications to dry up these secretions we may inadvertently prolong the illness by reducing the elimination of viruses.

In addition, many people with sinus symptoms during and after a respiratory illness make the situation worse by taking antihistamines. Antihistamines cause the mucus to become thick, get stuck which increases the pain by building up the pressure in the sinuses. The simple approach to re-establish mucus flow involves the use of inhaled steam, hot drinks, hot compresses and inhaled salt water or saline which can be purchased in any pharmacy.

The physical traps are responsible for the removal of almost all but the smallest particles and even viruses, the smallest physical substance to which we are exposed.

Additional physical defenses of the respiratory tree

Further down the airway, in the trachea (about the diameter of a 25 cent piece), the bronchi (10 cent size) and and into the bronchioles (pencil diameter), the mucus is lifted by the constant waving of tiny hair-like projections called cilia.

These ciliae have the same physical structure and the same type of motion as the tail of sperm except they always beat upward. They lift mucus and the trapped secretions in what is best described as the ciliary escalator.

When the mucus secretions, together with its trapped particles reaches the larynx, it is either coughed up or swallowed. A common problem is an excess of mucus which will be covered later on this page.

A further physical aspect of respiratory defense involves muscle fibres wrapped around the respiratory bronchioles - the tiny airways leading to the lung exchange sacs - alveoli. These strands of muscle respond to either open the airways, as when we exercise, or close them down, when me encounter a noxious substance in the air we breathe. In asthma, the wheeze heard is the air trying to get past bronchioles which have become constricted and are loaded with sticker than normal mucous.

Alveoli look like bunches of grapes hanging on their bronchioles, Their walls, which separate the air from our blood, are only one cell layer thick. The fact of the closeness allows macrophages from the blood to squeeze through the capillary walls and into the alveoli where they eat viruses, bacteria and dust (and are sometimes called dust cells). These dust cells then make their way into the bronchi where they eventually get coughed out. Studies have demonstrated that when we're healthy, even very fine particles which have been inhaled will be coughed out in from 2-4 hours.

 

The Immune System in the Respiratory Tree

Nestled within the cells lining the airway are groups of immune cells, similar to those in the digestive system. They also produce immunoglobulins - IgA - "Y" shaped particles which are designed to adhere to and disable a wide variety of pathogens. These antibodies are created by the immune cells as a non-specific early defense system and are responsible for killing vast numbers of potential harmful viruses and bacteria before they can attach themselves to the cells of the airway, and thereby creating illness.

Physical appearance of the respiratory walls

This illustration demonstrates how the cells of the respiratory lining appear.

The area under the brown line represents the support structure of the airway. It contains some smooth muscle in the smaller passages. These muscles are those which are able to constrict in response to noxious stimuli and are designed to protect the lungs.

The cells of the airway have, at their tips, tiny finger-like projections which 'wave' always in the same direction - toward the mouth. They have the same kind of action and are made in a similar fashion, as the tail of sperm.

Mucus is created by the goblet cells and is the vehicle by which the lungs clear out pathogens, pollens and dirt.

Dendritic cells are designed to trap and digest pathogens. As they do this, they decipher molecular clues about the pathogen. This information they them pass on to the immune cells so that they can produce specific antibodies to better defeat those pathogens.

Illnesses of the Respiratory System

"Colds" and Influenza

These illnesses are caused by viruses. In order to get a cold you have to be exposed to a large number of viruses and be vulnerable. You have probably heard from your mother that getting cold can give you a "cold". Recent research bears this out. Perhaps the physical chill weakens the immune cells, perhaps in response to the the cold, the increased mucus which seems to come naturally in response to cold, depletes the mucus layer, allowing viruses to attach to the epithelial cells.

Viruses do not have their own cell structure and cannot replicate on their own. They must attach themselves and then penetrate the cells lining the airway before they can multiply.

Once they are inside the cells, they begin to replicate. This is creates an inflammatory response leading to swelling, heat and pain. The sore throat which comes at the beginning of these illnesses is the body's response to the virus multiplying. In the worst case, the damage caused by viruses can be devastating and create major damage to the structure of the cells of the airways. This sort of damage may lead to bacterial infections like pneumonia or bacterial bronchitis, conditions which usually respond to antibiotics.

They body then begins to fight back, the goblet cells increase mucus production in an attempt to get the viruses out of the body. Fever is the body's response to the infection and is designed to activate and mobilize white blood cells so they can get to the source of the infection and kill the viruses. In the meantime, we are kept alive by our innate immunity. (please see for more information on innate immunity). Eventually the information about the virus picked up by the dendritic cells and passed to the immune cells creating antibodies to this virus, will help to overcome it. We become well again.

What makes us vulnerable?

Exposure to damaging substances in the air:

• smoking poisons the natural ability to self-heal. the smoke contains hundreds of toxins, irritants, and cancer promoting chemicals.
• dust from wood, fiberglass, chemicals, smog, diesel fumes. For some people, dust from wheat flour used in baking.
• chemicals and fragrances worn by many people
• moulds in the environment, damp basements, leaf mould etc
• animal dander, dust mites

 

Altered mucus

• thinned mucus. Possibly caused by exposure to cold or when the airways are irritated i.e. by chemicals.
• viruses cause an irritation in the mucus membranes and create first copious thin mucus, and later thickened and excess sticky mucus

Excess mucus may be caused by:

• consumption of dairy products. Not everyone responds to milk and cow dairy products the same way, however, for some people there is almost an immediate reaction s they begin clearing their voice or begin to cough. For some people, the reaction takes place later as snoring, post nasal drip or chronic cough.
• excess consumption of baked flour products, especially wheat flour. How this seems to work relates to the function of the colon. Flour products appear to cling to the wall of the colon preventing the mucus which naturally forms there and which, in health, functions to help move toxic wastes out of the body, to creep back into the lymph, and thus into the body. In Oriental Medicine, the colon and the lungs are paired organs. What happens in the colon will be reflected in the lungs. Bad breath - sure, look to your dental hygiene, but beyond that, it means that your colon is not healthy. This congestion can be offset by increasing the fibre in your diet (more fresh and cooked vegetables, less flour, bread, bagels etc., less dairy and red meat.

Asthma

Asthma represents a condition in which several problems overlap. One of the early symptoms of asthma is a dry cough, often worse at night. As the condition worsens, it usually proceeds to a wheeze, starting on the out-breath, but as is worsens, on the out and in-breath.

• allergy. The white blood cells in the airway wall are primed to over-react to allergens (animal dander, dusts, dust mite fecal matter, pollens etc.) or chemicals (perfumes, smog, vehicle exhausts, cigarette smoke,) or food triggers (dairy products, peanuts, shellfish etc.).
• hyper-reactive airways. This condition relates to the allergies but is made worse as the lungs get more 'practice' in tightening up, the muscle bands around the small airways get thicker. This condition is accentuated by an imbalance in the fatty acid composition in the diet - too much Omega-6 and Omega-9 fatty acids found in corn, canola, soy, flax and, safflower oils, and not enough Omega-3 fatty acids, those found in fish oils and some of the foods upon which fish feed - plankton, and bluegreen algae.
• thickened mucus. Mucus becomes thicker in dry air, (winter heated air), with inadequate consumption of water, with excess dairy and flour consumption and with insufficient vegetable foods in the diet.

Click for information about healing many of the symptoms of asthma.

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