Lingzhi vs Immune System

So you want a very strong Immune System?
A lot of us misunderstand that we need to have a very strong immune system in order to stay healthy. Yes, a strong immune system is good, but a too strong immune system may backfired, thus a well balanced immune system is the optimal.

When our immune system is weak, we fall sick easily as our body is not strong to counter against the invading viruses or bacteria. However, if our immune system is too strong, we'll also suffered from allergies like sinusitis (B Cells producing too much lgE, a type of allergy antibodies) or worse, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

Autoimmune disorders
Autoimmune disorders are diseases caused by the body producing an inappropriate immune response against its own tissues. Sometimes the immune system will cease to recognize one or more of the body's normal constituents as "self" and will create antibodies that attack its own cells, tissues, and/or organs. This causes inflammation and damage and it leads to autoimmune disorders. The cause of autoimmune diseases is unknown, but it appears that there is an inherited predisposition to develop autoimmune disease in many cases.

Our body is like a war field. A never ending war between our immune system against invading bacteria and viruses. Our immune system consist of Front Line Fighter and Second Line Fighter.

Front Line Fighter

Phagocytes
This is a combatant cell in the first line of defence. It can change its form at will to engulf a cluster of viruses or bacteria. In contact with invading bacteria and germs, phagocytes will take them down and send their informations to Th cells (Helper T Cells). However, since phagocytes are usually outnumbered by the invading viruses or bacteria, they need the backup (reinforcement) of other immune cells.

NK Cells (Nature Killer Cells)
NK Cells make up of 15% white blood cell. Also a combatant cell in the first line of defence, they show up later than phagocytes and is capable of recognizing a virus, a bacterium, an infected host cell, or even a cancerous cell, and have these targets exterminated. NK Cells destroy mutated / cancerous cells before they turn into malignant tumors.

Bacteria and viruses spread differently. Bacteria spread by splitting rapidly to produce more bacteria. Viruses spread by penetrate normal cells and produce within. When there is a huge amount of bacteria or viruses entering our body, Phagocytes will not be able to take on the invading army and perished with other dead cells, body fluid and dead germs. These dead materials pile up and result in redness, swelling, inflammation and pus.

Second Line Fighter

T Cells (T Lymphocytes)
There are two groups of T Cells: Th Cells (T Helper Cells) and Tc Cells (Cytotic T Cells). Upon the invasion of a virus, a T helper cell, which is denoted by Th0, differentiates itself into
Th1 and Th2 cells.

The former specializes in recognizing the various pathogens (causative factors of diseases), has these pathogens memorized, and issues orders of arrest to Tc Cells based on the identities of the pathogens. The latter specializes in issuing orders to B Cells advising which antibodies to produce based on the pathogens.

By day 5, both T helper cells replicate themselves and issue more orders of arrest to have the targets killed on the spot. The problem is, they may also inadvertently kill the normal healthy body cells, resulting in the so-called autoimmune diseases.

B Cells (B Lymphocytes)
This immune cell is capable of manufacturing the weapons for deployment in the second line of defence. Its specialty is to get informations from Th2 cells and produce antibodies to work against antigens and nothing else. As a B cell will not commit any wrongful killing, it does away with the possibility of harming a normal immune system.

To simplify:

• Tc cells and B Cells are like the men in an army.
• Th1 Cells are the Commanding Officers who decide how many men (Tc Cells and B Cells) to deploy.
• Th2 Cells are the Ammunition Officers who decide what type of weapon (antibodies) and how much to produce.

When the body is under heavy bombardment, both the Commanding Officers (Th1) and Ammunition Officers (Th2) would have received the viruses information earlier on from the front line defence (phagocytes) and advise the men (Tc & B Cells) accordingly.

Th1 and Th2 Cells must be balanced as mentioned earlier for too much Th2 cells will trigger B Cells to produce an overload of antibodies resulting in allergies or autoimmune disorder. Ideally, it is preferable to have more Th1 Cells than Th2 Cells so as to avoid "over killing".

Antibodies can multiply over millions and they can store the informations of each different virus or bacteria so as to get ready for the next similar invasion. However, our body need 7 to 10 days to produce antibodies. Most of the time, doctors only prescribed medicine to ease our symptoms, it is our body that produce antibodies and recover itself.

How does Lingzhi help in our Immune System?

Front Line Fighter
Lingzhi help to increase the activities of phagocytes and NK Cells. It further enhance the functions of both cells thus strengthen the front line immune system.

Second Line Fighter
Lingzhi help by increasing Th1 Cells to enhance immunity and at the same time control Th2 Cells to prevent allergy and autoimmune disorder. It is capable of inducing B cells to produce even more antibodies.

In short, Lingzhi strengthen our front line immune cells to prevent sickness and regulate our second line immune cells to speed up recovery.