CLEARLY, if disease is manmade, it can also be man-prevented. It should be the function of medicine to help people die young as late in life as possible.

-Dr. Ernst Wunder, president, American Health Foundation (1975)

THE entire healing process is engineered by the immune system. It is truly the healing power within.

This complex network of cells and biochemicals is the frontline defense system against viruses, fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms. The immune system is the key to fighting every insult to the body, from a little shaving wound to a deadly virus like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers

Poor diet, daily stress, and exposure to toxins in food, water, and the environment all cause a reduce immune system activity.

A healthy immune system not only defends against infectious diseases but it can also prevent dreaded diseases like cancer. Scientists have known for years that, regardless of a person’s genetic makeup, if the body’s toxic load is kept under control and the immune system is strong, cancer is unlikely to develop.

Our immune system is the body’s most powerful defense against cancer.

Treatments should focus on enhancing our immune system’s ability to seek and destroy cancerous cells. No one nutritional supplement can cure cancer; a multifaceted approach including a diet high in vegetables, fresh fish, and juicing fruits and vegetables, along with many well-researched nutritional supplements is the key to ensuring our body can fight cancer from within. Viruses are a known factor in the risk of getting cancer.

It is obvious that understanding how the immune system works and what can be done to keep it functioning at a maximum efficiency is a top priority if one’s goal is towards optimum health.

A weakened immune system results in an increased susceptibility to virtually every type of illness. Common signs of impaired or low immune system include fatigue, listlessness, repeated colds and infections, inflammation, allergic reactions, slow wound healing, chronic diarrhea, etc. Infection caused by an overgrowth of some normally present organism, such as vaginal yeast infections, candidiasis or oral thrush becomes problematic when immune system is low.

For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan.

(October 22, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.