Page 65 - The Miracle in the Immune System
P. 65
f an enemy overcomes all barriers and succeeds
in entering our body, this does not mean that the
defence army has been defeated. On the contrary, the
real war has just begun, and the main soldiers come in-
to play at this stage. The first soldiers to meet the foe
are the eater cells, that is, phagocytes, which continu-
ously travel in our body and keep control of what is go-
ing on.
These are "special cleaning cells", which ingest the
unwanted microbes that have penetrated the inner sur-
faces of the body, and alert the defence system when
necessary.
Certain cells in the defence system capture, break
down, digest, and eliminate the miniscule particles and
liquid foreign matter that have entered our body. This
event is called "phagocytosis" (cell engulfing).
Phagocytosis is one of the most important elements
of the immune system. It provides an immediate and ef-
fective protection against infections.
