Comments on: We aren’t immune. And we shouldn’t be.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:53:26 +0000

One of the really fun things to do is to think about the components of the “immune system.” Our white cells, thought about properly, are alive and somewhat independent. I think of them as obligate parasites and myself as a colony. Sometimes I forget to take care of my minority populations and things get out of whack.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:53:47 +0000

Mmm…I like all the names people have suggested, but don’t have any of my own to add. I just wanted to say though, that people really do seem to be monumentally misinformed when it comes to the unseen bacterial world. I can’t pretend to know much more than the average person out there, but I do know that it is everywhere at all times, and spraying Lysol on everything can only makes things more cancerous for us, not safer. Scary chemicals aren’t the answer, and never have been. Unfortunately I think that people really believe whatever they see on TV, and believe that Purell kills 99.9% of bacteria and germs on contact. What they don’t seem to realize is that we live with it on us, and in us, all day long. I mean…..I’m eating bacteria as I write this! It can’t be killed off. What a strange concept.

I just hope that we all learn, and maybe one day we’ll understand more about this other invisible world, and what we can do to work with it, not against it.

And I hope more people just put down the Lysol!

By: Danielle

Danielle — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:35:16 +0000

As I read this post I thought, “ecological symbiosis.” I love that both words have been played with here in the comments.

Any one with that view in your header from her kitchen window is a lucky woman indeed.

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:49:10 +0000

Hey, thanks for the link, Isamu! Fascinating. (That’s my immunologist cousin, everyone!)

By: Jan S.

Jan S. — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:45:59 +0000

Point well taken Kate. I suppose the system concept can be useful as long as we agree that “systems” are more interdependent than independent. I like your term “commune” system. It is consistent with the idea that our bodies are communites more than single organisms. The mouse gut bactieria article certainly confirms that idea.

Great topic.

By: Isamu

Isamu — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:02:31 +0000

Have you checked out research that’s been done by Jeffrey I. Gordon of Washington U.? A really interesting paper of his from 2002 reports that gut commensal bacteria are needed for normal development of the gut vasculature. I think the article is available for free at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=12432102

By: kate

kate — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:50:16 +0000

The different systems of the body, as defined by western medicine, are simply a tool for understanding and working with the body though. They can be quite useful as a tool! They become more problematic when they’re taken as reality, or when, as Rebecca is pointing out, they take people into certain kinds of paradigms that are unhelpful.

Susun Weed describes the ‘immune’ system as a braid of the nervous, lymphatic, and endocrine systems. I found that a helpful model even though I know that you can’t separate the body out like that in reality.

The word ‘immune’ comes from the Latin for ‘not ready for service’. ‘Munis’ meaning ‘ready for service’. I thought that the term ‘commune system’ might work then

Maybe we need to consider what we are meaning by the system formerly known as immune? How are we defining that?

By: Jan S.

Jan S. — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:11:02 +0000

But isn’t it the “whole human being” that is necessary to maintaining health and balance? As soon as you try to separate out some sub-system that is responsible for that – you are missing something. Sort of . . . It takes an ecosystem?

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:48:51 +0000

Thanks, everyone!

I think I like “ecosystem,” too, though of course I use that term to describe the whole human being as well…

By: Herbwifemama

Herbwifemama — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:01:19 +0000

Yeah, I second human ecosystem. I was thinking that when I read Jan’s comment. Simple, descriptive.