Page 68 - The Miracle in the Immune System
P. 68

66   THE MIRACLE OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

              Their characteristic of ingestion makes them
           the scavengers of the defence system. They re-
           move all materials that need to be cleaned up,
           such as micro-organisms, antigen-antibody com-
           plexes, and other substances similar in structure
           to an antigen. At the end of these processes, sub-
           stances that would be qualified as antigens are di-
           gested, and thus pose no further threat to the
           organism.


              General Alarm
              When a country is involved in war, a general
           mobilization is declared. Most of the natural re-
           sources and the budget are expended on military
           requirements. The economy is re-arranged to
           meet the needs of this extraordinary situation
           and the country is involved in an all-out war ef-
           fort. Similarly, the defence system would also an-
           nounce mass mobilization, recruiting all of its
           elements to fight the enemy. Do you wonder how
           this happens?
              If enemy members are more than the current-
           ly fighting macrophages can handle, a special sub-
           stance is secreted. The name of this substance is
           "pyrogen" and it is a kind of alarm call.
              After traveling a long way, "pyrogen" reaches
           the brain where it stimulates the fever-increasing
           centre of the brain. Once alerted, the brain sets
           off alarms in the body and the person develops a
           high fever.
                     To the right, you can see macrophages
                     while trying to ingest foreign materials.
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