Components of the Immune System
The immune system is made up of a complex network of cells and organs that protect the body from infection. The immune system’s job is to keep harmful materials such as certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi, out of the body, and to destroy any infectious items that do invade the body. The following is a diagram of all the different components of the immune system:
Image from University of Virginia Health System website
Each individual component of the immune system plays an important role in the growth, development, and release if Lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are the key component of immune system health. They are a type of infection-fighting white blood cell that scan the body for infectious microorganisms and then fight them off.
adenoids (an enlarged mass of lymphoid tissue in the upper pharynx)
tonsils (prominent oval masses of lymphoid tissue on each side of the throat.)
thymus (a ductless, butterfly-shaped gland lying at the base of the neck, formed mostly of lymphatic tissue and aiding in the production of T cells)
lymph nodes (any of the glandlike masses of tissue in the lymphatic vessels containing cells that become lymphocytes)
spleen (a highly vascular, glandular, ductless organ, situated in humans at the cardiac end of the stomach, serving chiefly in the formation of mature lymphocytes, in the destruction of worn-out red blood cells, and as a reservoir for blood)
lymphatic vessels (a network of channels throughout the body that carries lymphocytes to the lymphoid organs and bloodstream)
Peyer’s patches (organized lymphoid tissue usually found in the lowest portion of the small intestine ileum in humans)
bone marrow (a soft highly vascular modified connective tissue that occupies the cavities and cancellous part of most bones)
blood vessels (any of the vessels, as arteries, veins, or capillaries, through which the blood circulates)
Definitions from dictionary.com and wikipedia.com
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