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Briefly describe the process of inflammation in an area that has been traumatized.
The inflammatory response is triggered when body tissues are injured; with that being said, the following cardinal signs or common indicators are watched out for when it comes to inflammation: redness, heat, pain, and swelling (edema).
The inflammatory response starts when damaged cells release inflammatory chemicals such as histamine and kinin. These chemicals will cause the blood vessels to dilate; capillaries will become leaky and phagocytes and white blood cells will move into the area of injury or damage through positive chemotaxis. As such, neutrophils, a type of white blood cells, will gather in the precise site of tissue injury through the aforementioned process of positive chemotaxis and consume any foreign material present. All of these are expected to cause redness, heat, pain, and swelling, which would lead to an increased metabolic rate of tissue cells and possible temporary limitation of joint movement; the latter two would then initiate the healing process of the damaged tissues.
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Choose one type of Immunity (Innate and Humoral) and explain how its mechanism protects our body.
Innate or nonspecific immunity refers to defenses that are present since birth; it does not involve specific recognition of a microbe and acts against different microbes in the same way. To add, innate immune responses represent our immune system’s early warnings and are designed to prevent microbes from entering the body and eliminate those that were able to breach and gain access to said body.
Innate or nonspecific immunity defends the body through the use of mechanical and chemical barriers to pathogens, also known as harmful or disease-causing microorganisms. They do this through the following:
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Body surface coverings (intact skin, mucous membranes)
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Specialized human cells
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Chemicals produced by the body
The three aforementioned defenses utilized by innate immunity are divided into the body’s first line of defense and second line of defense. The protective mechanism of the body’s first line of defense includes the barriers provided by the skin (epidermis), mucous membranes (coated hairs and cilia), tears from lacrimal apparatus, saliva, urine, defecation, and vomiting. On the other hand, the protective mechanism of the body’s second line of defense makes use of antimicrobial substances, natural killer cells, phagocytosis, inflammatory responses, and fever (elevated body temperature).