How does your immune system work?

In your body, the first soldier on the ground you need to know is a type of white blood cell called the macrophage. When your body spots some type of intruder such as a bacterium or virus, the macrophage moves in, finds the offender, engulfs, and digests it - sort of the way a soldier would take a prisoner of war hostage. But the macrophage isn't equipped with all the tools necessary to finish the job, so it radios for backup; that's when other helper cells arrive to assist in the operation.

While the macrophage waits for the other immune cells to speed their way through the bloodstream, it takes notes about the intruder, or antigen: who it is, what it is, and any identifying characteristics. That's important, right? Your body needs to be able to recognize this bad boy the next time he invades your territory, so it can respond quickly and flush it out of your system.

Now, back to the action. Thankfully, reinforcements arrive in the form of other white blood cells known as T cells and B cells. Both play a role in actually killing the invader.

The T cells, which in infants mature in an organ called the thymus, directly attack the invader (think hand-to-hand combat). The B cells create chemicals called immunoglobulin antibodies that act like bullets against the foreign substance. Die, antigen!

After a successful battle, the foreign cells do, in fact, die. But the interesting part here is that the T and B cells die as well, in a cellular process that's called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. The reason?

If they didn't die, the T and B cells could attack healthy cells after they've finished their primary job - sort of like soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who may confuse wartime with peacetime. This process typically works just fine, especially in the case of very simple and straightforward bacterial and viral infections. When the immune system tackles an invading agent such as a virus, the invader triggers body reactions that cause symptoms, then the immune system fights off the invader and ends the symptoms.

Say, for instance, that a cold virus attaches to respiratory cilia: little hairs that serve as mini street cleaners in the respiratory system. When the immune cells are alerted to the problem, they start an inflammatory process that forces the nose faucets to turn on in the form of a runny nose. Then, as the immune cells do their job and kill the offender and then kill themselves, we see the remnants of the battle: more snot.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.