"How they work" - In a nutshell

[jazzybaby9]

Hi, I was a "teen mom" when I gave birth to my daughter (who is now a toddler) and I have chosen not to vax. I've done my research (and still continue to do so). I feel 100% confident in my decisions not to vax my lo.

People often ask why I don't vax and I don't know how to put my reasons "in a nutshell"...

I do know that a strong immune system is fully capable of naturally fighting illness/disease with the help of good nutrition, exercise, boobymilk, etc...

I'm still struggling with understanding exactly how the immune system is supposed to work and how vaccines are supposed to work vs. how they actually work and how vaccines actually weaken/damage the adapting/functioning immune system.

:

I understand it in my head, but always have trouble putting it into words!


My questions:

Do you have a summary, article, site that explains exactly
-how the immune system works (without vaccination)
-how vaccines actually work
-how the immune system works post-vaccination



TIA- I obviously have A WHOLE LOT to learn

[jessjgh1]

Oh, I also would love to have some help putting this into words... but I really liked how you phrased this: a strong immune system is fully capable of naturally fighting illness/disease with the help of good nutrition, exercise, boobymilk, etc...

Jessica

[swissmom]

Go to the VRAN websiteand look for "Where to Start" --> Vaccination facts. The passage "Vaccines bypass the body's normal lines of immune defense" might help you.

[Marnica]

This is a great article about the immune system and vaccines, how they work and how they effect the immune system. It is by Philip Incao, MD

http://www.*********/v/incao.html

This article also by Dr. Incao is specifically about how vaccines work

http://www.*********/vaccine/incao.html

[pumpkinhead]

How the immune system works:

The immune system has two big ways of protecting us: Innate Immunity and Adaptive immunity.

Innate immunity: This is how the immune system deals with something immediately. It consists of cells that essentially "eat" infection causing antigens, and make infection causing things visible to the immune system as well as lots of other stuff.

Adaptive immunity: This is how the immue system responds to something specifically. It is a response that leads to the production of antibodies specifically made to destroy infection causing bacteria and viruses. IT takes longer than innate immunity, but is more effective. Basically a whole bunch of stuff happens to activate a specific type of immune cell to start producing antibodies.

Vaccines are bits and pieces of something infectious or a weakened form of something that causes an infection. They have other nasty things attached to them that the body doesn't like and so the immune system attacks it as if it were are regular infection. Because it is weakened or only bits and pieces, it's easily killed off and your body makes antibodies against it that are specific. When our immune system makes antibodies, it also makes cells that remember what this infection is so that if we get it again, it can respond even quicker to get rid of it. So, when our immune system responds to a vaccine, it can still make this "memory" even though it hasn't ever seen the actual disease/infection, but just the vaccine. However, some of the nasty things vaccine makers attach to the vaccine to get the immune system to react are super duper nasty and bad for us. This is because some vaccines are just too weak to make our immune system react on their own, so they have to put something else in there to make it want to attack the vaccine.