Unseen passage the power of our body to fight against
Answers
the power of our body to fight against various disease producing agents is known as defence mechanism.
This defence mechanism depends upon various factors which can be categorized mainly into two
types – common factors and special factors.
Amongst the common factors, the most important is the health of human beings. We all know if
we have a good health, our body automatically remains protected against diseases. For keeping
good health, one should take a nutritious balanced diet. A balanced diet is that which contains
carbohydrates, fat, proteins, vitamins in proportionate amount.
The skin saves us against many micro-organisms producing diseases, provided that it is intact. In
case there are cuts or abrasions on it, the micro-organisms penetrate the body through those cuts
and abrasions and can cause diseases. Therefore, a cut or an abrasion should never be left open.
In case there is no bandage available, it may be covered by a clean cloth.
Some bacteria reside on and inside the human body. They are our friends and are useful for us.
They do not cause any disease and by their presence they do not allow disease-causing
organisms to settle on those places. For example, the micro-organisms, present in the human
saliva secrete a chemical which does not allow diphtheria causing bacteria to grow inside the oral cavity.
The human body secretes a variety of fluids, which are killers for disease causing micro-
organisms. For example, gastric juice (acidic in nature) secreted by our intestinal tract kills
all organisms which enter our body though food.
There are a few automatic activities of our body known as ‘reflex phenomenon’ which protects
the body against many infections. This reflex phenomenon includes sneezing, coughing, and
vomiting.
Fever is one of the most important constituents of the defence mechanism of our body. The
organ which regulates the temperature of our body is known as hypothalamus and is situated in
the brain. When micro-organisms after entering the body release toxic products and these reach
the brain through blood, the hypothalamus starts increasing the temperature of the body and the
person gets fever. This fever is very useful for the human body because due to the increase of
temperature, the micro-organisms which are the root cause of the problem get killed.
We are living in an environment which is full of bacteria. Many of these bacteria can produce
serious diseases, but all of us do not suffer from such diseases. It is due to a special power
present in our body to fight these diseases. A part of this special power of our body is known as
innate immunity. This we gain during our lifetime.
In a nutshell, we can say that since nature has provided us with defence mechanism to fight
against so many diseases, let us maintain it or rather increase it by the way of immunisation.
