White+Blood+Cells+-+JP

= =

White Blood Cells toc = Introduction = Your soldiers spot the enemy fleet and immediately your whole army is on it. They battle it out until the enemy is destroyed. This is nothing new since your fleet always win. You have the best army with a lot of structures and different jobs too. All to protect your body. Yes, there is an army inside your body. The army of White Blood Cells. It’s not all the White Blood Cells you also help White Blood Cells to defeat the enemy (Pathogens). White blood cells are super powerful and the fact you’re living right now proves it. These cells are special and known to protect the other cells, but they do have a weakness as everything does. This system the White Blood Cells part of is the Immune System and everyday it is helping you stay healthy. Your bodies all powerful White Blood Cell army is super sophisticated and I think it is time for your White Blood Cells or Leukocyte be recognized.

=Function of White Blood Cells=

In a war soldiers aren’t all the same and everyone has a different role. So clearly White Blood cells are not limited to one type. There are many types with different jobs to destroy pathogens.As I was saying,There are a lot of types of White Blood Cells yet the most common are T-cells, B-cells, and Macrophages. T- Cells direct or coordinate the actions of the immune system (Allen et al. [Page ]). You can think of them as a general. They direct the White Blood Cells and the actions of the immune system. B-Cells job is to create Antibodies. (Allen et al. [Page ]). They are like a military camp leader, and they send out troops to fight the enemy. Antibodies wear down pathogens until they are destroyed. A ntibodies are comparable to soldier on a battlefield. Macrophages eat pathogens. (BrainPop) They just go and destroy them and there isn’t much in a war like it. Maybe a tank but nothing else. This goes to defeat all the bacteria and its duplicates. This is a fast working team and they have to work fast with the 1 million bacteria produced if one gets the chance to invade a cell. Your white blood cells are in a constant war. Those are the three most common and known white blood cells. However, there are much more. You know what Antibodies are yet, the process of the creation of Antibodies is a complicated and an important one truly grasp the germ fighting process.

media type="youtube" key="EwZluh8YcRo" width="560" height="315"

Your B-cells can sense the enemy presence. You know what your B-cells do…. but how do they do it.When these white blood cells encounter pathogens/bacteria/germs a lot of things happen. First of all, antigens are rel eased into the bloodstream from the pathogen, then soon reaches the B-Cell, and when this happens B-cells create Antibodies (Encyclopedia Britannica). These antibodies are made to attack that type of pathogen and wear it down. (Encyclopedia Britannica). Theses Antibodies can gang-up on a pathogen to eliminate it (Encyclopedia Britannica). Antibodies also draw attention to other White Blood Cells to a pathogen when they surround it. Meanwhile, the Macrophages work on destroying the pathogens themselves by engulfing them. (Like in the video below). Eventually all the pathogens are destroyed and your immune system is back to normal. WBC’s and Antibodies do a lot of work but you can never forget the role your body plays in defeating pathogens //(Image of an Antibody//)



You know how Antibodies are created but don’t forget they are on their home battlefield and have some advantages to stop the invading pathogens. There are a lot of things your body (the battlefield) does to help your WBC’s with their job. One thing is the Inflammatory response. The body will widen up a blood stream to allow more blood flow thus more white blood cells to an area that is particularly bad. (Padilla et al. [Page 147]). Imagine you need more troops in an alley so you just widen it while the troops run in. That is especially convenient yet sometimes bothers you on the outside. When the situation is especially bad and the virus has spread to great quantity the body will raise the temperature. This slows down the reproducing factor of bacteria because bacteria have trouble reproducing and reacting in heat (Padilla et al. [Page 147]). \ This is another advantage that helps the WBC with it’s job. This raising of temperature is commonly know as a fever (Padilla et al. [Page 147]). Fevers are helping you get rid of the real threat. Think about it, when your fever is high your WBC are needing more help and are in trouble. Consequently, you feel more worse. When your temperature starts to go down your White Blood Cells are eliminate the enemy force and doesn't need a hot body temperature. Though your body helps White Blood Cells with their job, one thing you can’t do is underestimate the power of white blood cells. They are special so consequently, have a special structure.

=Structure of White Blood Cells= WBC’s have special structures that make them much different. White blood cells do get help from the body but are structured amazingly to do their job. Firstly, what makes a white blood cell so distinct is that most of them are round and colorless. Color and shapes one thing that makes cells distinct from each other and what makes the white blood cells different under a microscope. Additionally, WBC’s are bigger than any other common cell in blood. (BrainPop)This means that if you look at the blood and you see red blood cells, platelets, and WBC’s the WBC’s would be significantly larger. White blood cell contain a strong nuclei that is hard to get infected and lets the cell live long up to years. With the limited white blood cells and their important task think about how important a strong Nucleus is. Though depending on the cell you might have a bigger or smaller nucleus, they are all strong to let the cell live through although it may eat a lot of pathogens. However, the scary thing is that although your WBC’s have a lot of beneficial features there is a way where well these features fail to protect them and it is commonly known through all people.



=HIV/AIDS=

There is always a weakness to everything. Even your WBC army can be getting the best of. Unfortunately There is also a weakness to WBC’s because sorry to say this but there is nothing is without weakness. There is disease that destroys you t-cells so the immune system is highly weakened called HIV. This disease highly weakens your immune system and most HIV patients have trouble fighting infections.(Nall) This is because T-Cells fight infections and when T-Cells are eliminated the immune system losses a lot of structure. T-cells are the commanders and without them the nervous system losses it fast pace. HIV worsens into AIDS and no there is no cure though there are drugs that slow it down. (Nall) The reason you would want to slow HIV down is because if you don’t you might eventually die from pathogen and invading virus damage. Don’t worry because HIV is not contagious. You can only get it through contact with the blood of the person with HIV.(Nall) If you hug someone with HIV you won’t get it. Kiss someone with HIV you won’t get it, if they sneeze on you, you won’t get it. You can get HIV through Sexual intercoarse, drinking breast milk of someone who has HIV, unwashed needles that pierce the skin,(Nall) or by drinking someone with HIs blood that unless you're a vampire you won’t have to worry about. Never mind the fact that Some couples get tests before sexual intercoarse to make sure none of them have HIV so HIV doesn't spread to careful people often. White Blood Cells have a weakness and there are ways to get it s please take these tests before you think of having sexual intercoarse but don’t you got to remember the fact that your White Blood Cells are fighting of a lot of diseases inside your body.



=Conclusion= Your body depends on the defensive job of the white blood cell. They defend your body from diseases and sicknesses. There are a whole lot of White Blood Cells each with different jobs and much needed ones. White Blood Cells are structured in such a way that is perfect for defeating pathogen. If that isn’t enough your body has some responses that help your White blood cells defend your body. White blood cells are important and without them viruses would shut down all your bodies cells and you would die. Infact, this could happen through a disease called HIV which destroys your WBC’s. WBC’s play a huge role in your life and your life would be short without them. Next time you get a cold think about your White Blood Cell and thank them for fighting those nasty pathogens down their and hope your army never fails.

= References =

Allen, Katy Z., et al. Human Body Systems and Health. Orlando, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2005.

BrainPop. “Blood.” BrainPOP, BrainPop, www.brainpop.com/health/bodysystems/blood/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.

Encyclopedia Britannica. “Antibody.” Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/science/antibody. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.

Henochowicz, Stuart I. “Antigen.” Medl, 15 July 2015, medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002224.htm. Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.

Nall, Rachel. “How HIV Affects the Body.” Healthline, HealthLine, 28 Sept. 2016, www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids/how-hiv-affects-the-body#Overview1. Accessed 31 Jan. 2017.

Padilla, Michael J., et al. Prentice Hall Science Explorer. Boston, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

World Book. “White Blood Cells.” World Book Kids, World Book, www.worldbookonline.com/kids/home#article/ar835473. Accessed 30 Jan. 2016.