An amazing discovery was made when it was found that there were very small living organisms that cannot be seen through the naked eye. This discovery led to the era that revolutionized the entire basis of the medical field. A very basic fact that we must all know is that every individual has with themselves the capacity to fight against diseases. This defense mechanism in our bodies is known as immune system. Whenever a foreign agent enters our body, the defense system of our body recognizes it as the invader and thus it causes activation of the defense system inside the body and this then result in the capture and killing of the invader, which thus protects our body from the harmful effects of it. For a moment if we think that our bodies were without this defense mechanism or system then we are so much vulnerable to a lot of different foreign bodies and can die ultimately without having a chance to get better at all.

Know this thing for sure that you are a very lucky person who has an intact defense mechanism working in your body, since we do not care for it we take it for granted and also cause it to go through a lot of insults where the defense mechanism go weaker and weaker. Very common things make our immune systems to suffer such as lack of adequate sleep is one thing that just causes our system to get weakened day after day until we correct our habits and come out of the phase and start to adopt a lifestyle that is much healthier for us. Also having excessive amounts of alcohol disturb the normalcy of the immune system and the immune cells that protect our body then start to decrease in numbers. There are also other factors as well that cause the depression of the immune system such as increased stress, use of medications etc. that are known to depress the immune system.

Just learning a little more about the immune system, our immune system consists of cells, these cells are macrophages, CD4 and CD8 cells. The CD4 cells are known as the helper cells and the CD8 cells are known as the killer cells. The macrophages ingest the foreign bodies and then release chemicals, which causes the CD4 cells to come close to them and thy get sensitized and start forming the antibodies against those specific foreign bodies and the killer cells known as the CD8 cells then ingest the foreign bodies.

Now coming back to the topic, where the low levels of immune system is unable to give protection and defense for the body, the same way the increased levels of immune system are harmful to the body itself therefore it is really important that the fine balance is being maintained. There have been researches that have been conducted through time to determine the role of the defense system in our body, the way it acts and the different mechanisms that affect it. These researches have led us to learn a great deal about the behavior of the defense system of our body. There was a recent research being conducted by a group of Australian scientists where they have been able to revitalize the immune system in the body of humans with the use of a hormone. This is an amazing discovery by these scientists because there are conditions in which there is a very steep decline in the immune cells and this then results in loss of the defense of the body but with this discovery the humans will be able to regain their defense system up and running.

This discovery is not only going to help people who are suffering from immune deficiencies but also will help people who have recently got a transplant and in this way the immune system can be controlled where it would not fight against the body’s own defense system. The most affected people with the change in the immune system are the individuals who are suffering from AIDS, cancer and with ailments in which there is a direct drop of immunity.

The process with which the revitalization of the immune system occurs is through thymus, which is the seat of production of the T cells that are the major key players of our defense. This organ, thymus, stops its activity during the early adulthood years, which is responsible for the production of the immune cells, but now the scientists have found a way to get it back to working. The scientists said that the thymus stops its activity because of the presence of the hormone testosterone, but when the hormone testosterone is blocked it is then the thymus starts to work again. In order to block the testosterone, the scientists have used a hormone known as luteinizing hormone releasing hormone that is known to inhibit the production of the sex hormone and this in turn causes the activation of the thymus. It is just like that luteinizing hormone releasing hormone is a key that unlocks the thymus and thus it starts producing the T cells. The patients who are going through the prostate surgery with temporary blockade of their sex hormones are the ones in whom there is increased activity of T cells is found in their blood.

In cases where the patients are suffering from cancer in which they have to go through radiation therapy as well as chemotherapy are facing a severe blow to their immune cells and this causes them to go through infections and hence leads them to increased morbidity and even mortality. It is then that this therapy of blocking the sex hormones and reactivating the thymus helps these individuals to have a better quality of life. This research has opened great new avenues. Those people who are getting transplants can now be provided with the situation where the researchers are able to manipulate the way so that the thymus grows back and they will bring it back in a way that that the transplant does not get rejected, which is awesome.

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