Understanding Immune (Defense) Response

Our ‘being’ (I say being because it’s not just the body…) is equipped with the most intelligent, sensitive and efficient defense response mechanism.  It’s a three tier security ring, each tier equipped with its unique early warning system. We need to sensitize ourselves to recognize the warnings and take required timely measures.  Most of the grave illnesses are a result of constant ignoring of the signs and symptoms that starts as a trivial, minor complaint, leading to a groan and then ending with a yell and that is when we listen.  

The following two analogies will help explain our defense response

1. A person seated next to you pokes your arm with a pointed object, your first defence will be that of irritation where you will wince and warn him, repeated irritation will lead to inflammation (perhaps cold stare or a scornful look or an angry red faced retort). If this intrusion still persists then you are likely to change gear to the next level of defense that is placing a barrier may be a book. This is what we term as induration (the process of being hardened). And, now you still find the person is able to pierce through the barrier and hurt you, you will then react by possibly attacking the person in a bid to repel the assaulter or by moving away from the line of attack (withdrawing). This third expression or state of defence is termed as suppuration or ulceration.
2. Now consider this, you have bought at new pair of shoes which is a bit tight and you develop a condition commonly referred to as shoe-bite. Let us now examine the body’s defenses to a shoe-bite. The first defense is that of irritation followed by inflammation, an alarm prompting you to take corrective measures.

You ignore the pain, possibly because you spent a fortune on the pair and continue wearing them. Now your toe develops a corn which is hardening or induration which is the second line of defense.

You turn a blind eye to this warning as well and you find that in a few days or  weeks time the third line of defense gets activated where the corn starts becoming painful and ends up ulcerating  a slow molecular death of the cells.

Interestingly you will notice the same script at the level of your mind to continuous illness, let us say headache i.e. irritation and inflammation followed by a period of ignoring or indifference and then when it becomes unbearable there is an outburst leading to attack, destruction or flight or resignation.

Continued anger (inflammation) leads to hatred (passive –pent up anger) and continued hatred leads to violence and violence leads to destruction. So, one will notice that the expression of defense response at cell level is also seen expressed at our being level. When the cells reach a state of ‘given-up’ the same expression will be seen which we describe as despair, despondency, misery, melancholy, wretchedness etc.  The state of your mind reflects the state of your health, and hence taking into account your core feeling becomes a very important concomitant along with other symptoms in homoeopathy.

This post is inspired on the understanding and explanation give by Dr. Prafull Vijayakar in his book The End of Myasmtion of Miasms - Mathematics of Human Defense against Diseases.

Suggested Reading: http://www.similima.com/widening-miasm-with-prafull-vijayakar