Page 30 - The Miracle in the Immune System

28 THE MIRACLE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

In addition, the tiny hairlike structures (cilia) on the
surface of the cells of the respiratory tract beat upward,
causing a current that carries foreign particles to the
throat where they are swallowed and disposed of by ac-
id in the stomach. The coughing reflex and sneezing fa-
cilitate this function.
The microbes that are able to surmount these bar-
riers and reach the alveoli (lung, bronchus and gingiva)
will be ingested by phagocytes. After this phase, phago-
cytes become mobile and drift upwards with the mi-
crobes they have ingested to be finally discharged from
the body in different ways.
Each time you breathe, as you are doing now, a war
is fought at the border gates of your body of which you
are completely unaware. The guards at these border
gates fight with the enemy to the death to protect your
health.

Protection In The Digestive System
Another vehicle by which microbes gain entry to
our body is our food. However, the guards of our body,
which are aware of this method used by the microbes,
await them in the region where the food finally ends up,
which is the stomach. They also have a surprise for the
arriving microbes, which is the gastric acid. This acid is
quite an unpleasant surprise for the microbes which
have overcome all obstacles and reached the stomach.
The majority, if not all, of the microbes are defeated by
this acid.
Some microbes may overcome this obstacle be-
cause they have not made enough contact with the gas-