StemCell Therapy

What most of us know about the canine immune system can fit into this paragraph. Their immune system protects them from infection and disease; when it fails, disease or an allergic reaction occur, pet food companies tell us their ingredients support the immune system.

If only it were that simple. There are two parts to the immune system. The default setting, if you will, is called the innate immune system. It consists of the skin, mucous, specialized cells in the saliva, stomach acid and certain cells in the body called phagocytes.

You might remember from your Conversational Greek classes that phago refers to eating. Phagocytes engulf foreign matter, and they arent too particular about what they engulf. Together, these elements make up the innate immune system; the bodys first line of defense.

As it often happens, repeated exposure to a substance will allow your body to build up a resistance to that substance. The innate immune system has nothing to do with that. But it does do a pretty good job at what it was designed for, which is defense.

The other half of this duo called the immune system is known as the adaptive immune system. Now thats a system. It defends against specific foreign invaders and, in its tool box, has a variety of tools that enable it to do battle.

If the invader simply needs a whack on the head to disable it, the adaptive immune system whips out its hammer. If it needs to cut off a germs legs to disable it, the system whips out its saw.

Not only does it recognize specific invaders and adapt to disable them, but it remembers them, too, so if they try to pull a fast one and attempt to get in again, the adaptive system responds with a swifter, more powerful tool.

The body can build up immunity to diseases in two ways. Active immunity is when the body is exposed to a substance either by natural means or by vaccination, and develops its own antibodies.

Passive immunity is achieved by receiving another animals antibodies. Examples of this would be the immunity received by the fetus from the placenta, from the colostrum consumed in the hours immediately following birth, or from bone marrow transplants.

But, alas, nothings perfect. Sometimes the immune system has a brain cramp, mistakenly recognizes a part of the body as the enemy, and goes on the attack. This is known as autoimmunity. The system can also overreact or it can fail to react at all.

If the immune system fails, it could mean that, just as in the old Wonder Ball song and game: The game for you is past, my friend, and you are out. Note to GenXers and subsequent generations: you might need to consult Prof. Google on that one, or ask Grammy or Grampy.

While the human and animal immune systems basically function in the same manner, theres still a lot that they dont know, especially with regards to animals.

Thats probably because funding for research in animal science is a lot harder to come by.

This lack of complete knowledge, though, has been cited as a major factor in the veterinary science communitys inability, thus far, to establish uniform immunization protocols. Vets, based on training and experience, still differ on the value and frequency of some immunizations.

Bob Bamberg has been selling pet products and writing about pets, livestock and wildlife for three decades. He can be reached at petsap@comcast.net.

Read more here:
BAMBERG: The canine immune system - The Sun Chronicle

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