A look at the body’s immune system
The body’s immune system is an
extremely complex network of different types of cells working together to fight
disease. When something like bacteria or a cold virus infects the body, it
invades healthy cells and takes over. In response to this invasion, the body recognizes
these invaders as foreign and marshals a large arsenal of forces to kill the
invading organism and the cells it has invaded. Scientists still have a lot to
learn about exactly how the immune system works, but some of the key types of
cells and their functions have been identified.
There are several different types
of cells involved in the immune system response. T cells (or T lymphocytes),
seem to be largely in charge of the immune system, telling other types of cells
to mount an attack.
How does the process cause
diabetes? Basically, the immune system makes the mistake of thinking an
insulin-producing cell is a foreign invader and T-cells activate an attack
against them, killing off the healthy islet cells instead of just killing
invading organisms.
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