The immune system is a network of cells throughout our bodies (in the skin, the blood, and elsewhere) that work together to prevent or limit infection from potentially harmful pathogens (like bacteria and viruses) and to prevent damage from noninfectious agents (like sunburn and cancer).

Scientists categorize the various immune cells in two groups: innate immune cells and adaptive ones, explains Michael N. Starnbach, PhD (https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/58775, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School of Boston.

Innate immune cells are the first line of defense. They identify microbes and other potential threats, triggering a response to get rid of them. Adaptive immune cells are involved in the second part of an immune response. “These are special cells that respond to clean up the remainder of the organisms left after the innate immune response,” Dr. Starnbach says.

Here comes the interesting part. The adaptive immune system have what’s known as “immune memory,” meaning that when those cells see a pathogen that has previous entered the body, not only do they help get rid of the invader, they also make more copies of themselves to continue to build a stronger defense in the future so the body is better prepared to fight off the pathogen if and when it reappears, says Starnbach.

In the case of new viruses such as the novel coronavirus, however, no one has a heightened response to it, because no one’s immune memory has encountered it. No one has been exposed and therefore no one has developed immunity, leaving more of us susceptible, Starnbach explains.

“Our immune systems are very finely tuned,” Starnbach says. The different immune cells are geared to recognize things in our bodies that are potentially harmful and to clear out those things. “If they weren’t, we either wouldn’t be able to respond to the organism that might invade us. Or if our immune system were too active they would attack our own tissues.” This is known as autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn’s disease.

Basically the bodies natural protection system, carries out two primary functions. Defense and tolerance. Your immune system defends against external invaders, bacteria, viruses and parasites. And it patrols your body for internal troublemakers, such as cancer cells. It also regulates your level of tolerance to potential environment triggers, such as allergens (including pollen, bee stings, grasses, wheat, peanuts, soy and corn).

Sometimes physical barriers and inflammation are not enough to overwhelm an invader, and an infection becomes well established. Then white blood cells known as B and T lymphocytes form armies that join the battle.

Lymphocytes recognize the body’s own self markers and normally ignore them because it is not a threat to itself.

B and T cells are central to the body’s third line of defense known as the immune system. Two key features define the immune system. The first is immunological specificity. This is the ability to certain kinds of lymphocytes to zero in on specific pathogens and eliminate  them. The second feature is immunological memory, that is, some lymphocytes that form during an initial confrontation are set aside for a future battle with the same pathogen.

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP OURSELVES?

EXERCISE – This activity is known to have a profound impact on the normal functioning for the immune system. Having a higher age and sex adjusted scores for cardiorespiratory fitness and performing regular exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity exercise that fall within the American College for Sports Medicine (ACSM) guidelines has been shown to improve immune responses to vaccination, lower chronic low-grade inflammation, and improve various immune markers in several diseases states including cancer, HIV, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cognitive impairment and obesity. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has raised a lot of questions regarding how exercise can protect us from infection by boosting immunity. The ACSM guidelines recommends 150 minutes of active aerobic exercise five days a week (that means 30 minutes each day). While social isolation at this time suggests that we don’t do anything in groups we can still go out and walk or run by ourselves.

Each bout of exercise, particularly whole-body dynamic cardiorespiratory exercise, instantaneously mobilizes literally biliions of immune cells, especially those cell types that are capable of carrying out functions such as the recognition and killing of virus-infected cells.

Richard J. Simpson, PhD, FACSM, March 30, 2020 wrote a very informative article titled “Exercise, Immunity and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” In addition to the above information he also states that “the greatst risk to COVID-19 infection is exposure. It is paramount that we find creative ways to exercise while maintaining social distancing and proper hygienic counter measures. While exercise may not prevent us from becoming infected if exposed, it is likely that keeping active will boost our immune system to help minimize the deleterious effects of the virus.”

However, I have read reports that at least one college age athlete had died because the hospital they went to denied care because they or their families didn’t have insurance. Which is certainly a legal issue.

BOOSTING IMMUNITY FROM COVID-19? FOOD, SUPPLEMENTS, ROUTINES WORK BEST.

The nutrients that relate to  immunity include vitamin A, C, D, and E. And minerals such as zinc, selenium, and magnesium, according to an article edited by MedicineNet medical editor Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD.

There are no immunity “silver bullets,” says many nutritionists, including the ones who council HIV patients at the UCSF Center for HIV Information.

VITAMIN C AND D HELPS CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS

Many studies show that without enough of the essential nutrients your body needs, your immune system suffers. This includes studies showing that deficiencies of vitamins C and D are more commonly found in people with infections, including pneumonia.

While the use of vitamin A, C and D and Zinc are being used in large dosages in the medical environment for patients in intensive care. Be cautious using huge quantities if you are not seriously ill. The information below is being used in serious ill patients.

An antioxidant is being administered intravenously in quantities far exceeding the daily recommended dose, which is 90 milligrams for men and 75 milligrams for women as recommended by the National Institutes of Health.

Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin A and D, can be quite toxic at high doses, but vitamin C is reasonably safe as it is easily excreted, Peter McCaffery, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Aberdeen in the U.K., told Newsweek. it is also known that intravenous vitamin C is relatively safe when applied under clinical supervision, McCaffery added.

McCaffery said, “Just to reiterate though, taking large doses of vitamin C tablets would be very unlikely to protect you from COVID-19, unless you were actually vitamin C deficient, which with a normal diet is quite rare.”

The effectiveness of intravenous vitamin C as a treatment for, or a buffer against COVID-19 is not established with solid clinical evidence. Rumors spreading online about vitamin C’s potential to treat the symptoms of coronavirus, or even prevent them from developing it in the first place, have been debunked.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a certain amount of vitamin C is needed to perform various bodily functions, from forming blood vessels and other tissue to the absorption of iron. In high doses the antioxidant has the potential to cause adverse reactions, such as nausea, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

But perhaps most significantly in this case, the vitamin plays a role in the body’s healing process. It can protect cells against harmful free radicals, which are found in cigarette smoke, air pollution and fried foods among other things.

The use of these vitamins are being used experimentally in critically ill patients. However, researchers are looking at what benefits, if any, vitamin C might have on COVID-19 patients. Scientists at Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhun, China, have begun a clinical trial to determine just that, but no results have yet been published. The completion date is scheduled for the end of September, 2020, when they hope to have shown that vitamin C reduces the inflammatory effects of the disease in the lung.

If successful, this action would be, in part, due to the antioxidant effect of vitamin C, said McCaffery.

The high dosages given in a hospital setting are recommended to be given through IV to improve lung function, which may help keep a patient off of mechanical ventilation or life support.

If you do choose to take a vitamin C supplement, I suggest a capsule form. Choose a high quality brand and take the correct dose. A third party testing company such as Consumer Lab. com, and United States Pharmacopeia (USP) test supplements for purity and label accuracy. You may want to choose a vitamin C supplement that has been tested by one of these companies. Preferably in capsule not tablets.

Most vitamin C supplements provide a daily dose of anywhere from 250-1,000 mg., so it can be easy to exceed the UL if you’re not careful. Be sure to read the packaging and take only the recommended dose to avoid complications.

Vitamin C may also interfere with chemotherapy, radiation treatments, or cholesterol lowering drugs.

That said, when used in clinical settings treating critically ill patients, very high dose vitamin C treatments are safe and not associated with significant side effects.

Vitamin C has other documented benefits. I suggest that you check out articles through Google Scholars. More on vitamin D next time.