White+Blood+Cells+-+BH

= = = = Imagine you are in the army, a high ranking officer or better the general. You are standing over a war map deciding where to move your troops. You have to find the enemy he is hiding somewhere in your area, you have to act fast or else you'll lose the fight. What would you do if you were in this situation? This is the life of a **immune system** (It is what defends you from germs using cells) every time you get sick it has to try and find the germ to kill it. This topic is only one of five we will go over, others like b and t cells, and how your body finds and kills germs. So sit back and relax, and learn all about White Blood Cells.

= = = Generals and lieutenants =

Most of the army or white blood cells, they break off into groups when looking for bacteria, it is usually a handful of **b cells**(A cell that attacks germs) and one or two **t cells**(A cell that attacks germs and can produce b cells). They search through a select area where they were assigned. The cells can go through the skin walls and will search their area until the germ is found. If the cells do find a germ trail, they stick to the trail following it. When they find the germ they attack the germ by having the b cells produce **antibodies**(b cells produce these chemicals to fight germs) while the t cells try to swallow the germ whole. This is what makes the t cell so powerful, it can take out a bunch of germs in one attack.

For cuts the squad brings along platelets which are what stop the blood from flowing, they are like a man made band aid. When the squad gets there the platelets start to close the cut, while the b cells and t cells attack germs that come in through the cut. They wait there and finish the job and then just guard it until they die.



= The army =

The immune system is like a army, the T cell runs the show with the b cells being the acts. When the immune system spots the enemy they quickly tell everyone that the enemy is here. Then the immune system tells the **bone marrow**(It produces a lot of the cells) to start producing more b cells and a few t cells, the b cells go rushing off to fight the germ. The t cell on the other hand has to be tested by the immune system to see if they can do their job well. So, the Immune system brings up a dead bacteria, if the t cell attacks it it passes if not then it dies. The t cells are then rushed out of the immune system into the battlefield.There are two types of white blood cells, one is the B cells which are like tiny little soldiers, their job is to produce antibodies to kill germs and are usually the first one to notice and attack the germ. They remember the germ so next time they are fighting it, the b cell will produce antibodies faster that kill the germs can beat it diagram easier by producing the antibody that kills the germ the best.The second white blood cell is the T cell which are like generals, they can produce special b cells that produce more b cell, the special b cells are like a lieutenant. T cells are bigger than the b cells and they flatten out, when they do flatten out to attack the germs, they look like tree roots when they do this. T cells have to go to a place to get tested to see if they can attack the right thing.



toc = Helping the brothers in arms =

The best way to help your immune system is to stay active and eat healthy. What really helps is when you are sick is to go to the doctor. The immune system can kill the germ off, but if you get medicine your immune system can kill it faster. Then it can fix all the damage the germ caused and get your body healthy again. Similar to medicine is vaccines, the shot you get for the flu. The vaccine is a dead flu germ, the immune system sends out the b cells and they kill it easily since it was already dead. Then the b cells can now produce antibodies that can kill the flu virus easily without needing for you to get sick and produce white blood cells. This way your immune system can stay healthy and you don’t have to feel bad. Returning to exercising and how you gain white blood cells when you exercise. This is also a good way to stay healthy, if you exercise once a day then you’ll have extra white blood cells. Which means it will be harder for you to become ill, that's why it is said that you should play sixty.A lot of germs **mutate**(The germs grow to over come the problem that faces them) which makes it a lot harder for your body to defend itself from usually easy to defeat viruses, like the flu. It has many forms and will probably keep making different versions of itself. You can keep yourself safe if you exercise. And go to the doctor when you are sick. If you do cleaning once every two weeks it helps to keep the germs from spreading all over your house.

= White blood cells, few in numbers =

Did you know that the white blood cell is the biggest cell, but also the fewest. There is only 4000 to 100000 in every micro-liter, that is a very small number when compared to its other blood cell. The red blood cell has almost 100000 to 40000 in every micro-liter, there is a reason for this. That is that red blood cells bring air to the body everywhere, which means they need a lot of them to get enough oxygen to the body. The other reason why is because white blood cells are produced when needed to fight off a germ. So, the body only needs a few of them when they aren't fighting a germs. But if you have to few it will kill you, one disease that can do this to your body is HIV which turns into AIDS. HIV shuts down your immune system, therefore stops all the white blood cells from knowing what to do. Then HIV takes control of a t cell, using the t cell to produce more of its self by using the way the t cell can produce b cells. When it is done with this it turns into AIDS, it starts attack other white blood cells completely killing all white blood cells. Leaving you defenseless against viruses like the common cold. However you can stop HIV by not touching anyone's blood or bodily fluid with a cut.

=Recruiting Troops=

Since your body doesn't want to make a lot of white blood cells when not needed it will make them when it thinks you need them. Like when you are exercising, it actually produces more white blood cells. That is because your body thinks you are sick, it realizes you are hot and sweaty. This doesn't affect you, the white blood cells eventually die off. This is good to know for when you are sick, if you can exercise your body will produce more white blood cells to help you fight off the germ.White blood cells are produced from bone marrow which actually make a lot of your cells like red blood cells, b and t cells, and many other blood cells. Sometimes the bone marrow can have a problem where cancer makes the bone marrow produce weird white blood cells. The cancer is called Leukemia, a lot of people get this disease.

In conclusion, white blood cells are your whole body's defense to germs, without it you would die. That is why you should do your best to stay healthy and help your white blood cells, so they can do their job the best they can. Similar to taking care of your white blood cells it is also good to get vaccines so you can stay ahead of the viruses. Remember white blood cells are very helpful, treat them well and they will treat you well.

=Resources=

“BrainPOP.” Immune system. BrainPOP, 2014. Web. 22 Dec. 2014. .

“The immune system.” Nobelprize. Nobelelprize, 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. .

Padilla, Michael J., et al. Prentice Hall Science Explorer. Boston: Pearson, 2009. Print.

“What Are White Blood Cells?” Health Encyclopedia. University of Rochester Medical center, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. .

“What Causes Antibiotic Resistant.” TedEd. TED, n.d. Web. . “What’s Blood?” Kidshealth. Nemours foundation, 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. .