being breast-fed.”
“Will you please explain that?”
“As I said this morning, we can get antibodies at least two different ways. One is to create them when we are invaded by a previously unknown organism; the other is to inherit antibody memory chips from our parents. But our parents also created antibodies only when their bodies felt threatened as well. So, basically, the number of different antibodies anyone has will be mainly dependent on how many dangerous things they and their parents had been exposed to that their immune systems decided needed to be guarded against.”
“Are you saying that the more diseases we get, the more antibodies we will create to protect us in the future?”
“Yes, basically. And that makes good common sense, doesn’t it? If we get sick, our immune system goes to work to fight the invasive organism; and when it’s successful, it creates antibodies to protect us from getting that same illness again. The more often we encounter a new or different disease, the more antibodies we will create. But remember, we don’t actually have to get sick to make antibodies.”
“Tell us again, please.”
“Like with vaccinations, whenever we are exposed to a sufficient amount of a foreign substance – even if it’s not enough to create obvious symptoms of disease – our immune system goes through the same process of creating antibodies so we won’t get sick in the future.”
“You’re saying that those who have more illnesses than others, and those exposed to more illnesses even though they don’t actually get sick, will have more antibodies.”
“As a general rule, yes.”
“So someone who has led a normal life, has been careful about their health and their bodies and what they get exposed to,
“Will you please explain that?”
“As I said this morning, we can get antibodies at least two different ways. One is to create them when we are invaded by a previously unknown organism; the other is to inherit antibody memory chips from our parents. But our parents also created antibodies only when their bodies felt threatened as well. So, basically, the number of different antibodies anyone has will be mainly dependent on how many dangerous things they and their parents had been exposed to that their immune systems decided needed to be guarded against.”
“Are you saying that the more diseases we get, the more antibodies we will create to protect us in the future?”
“Yes, basically. And that makes good common sense, doesn’t it? If we get sick, our immune system goes to work to fight the invasive organism; and when it’s successful, it creates antibodies to protect us from getting that same illness again. The more often we encounter a new or different disease, the more antibodies we will create. But remember, we don’t actually have to get sick to make antibodies.”
“Tell us again, please.”
“Like with vaccinations, whenever we are exposed to a sufficient amount of a foreign substance – even if it’s not enough to create obvious symptoms of disease – our immune system goes through the same process of creating antibodies so we won’t get sick in the future.”
“You’re saying that those who have more illnesses than others, and those exposed to more illnesses even though they don’t actually get sick, will have more antibodies.”
“As a general rule, yes.”
“So someone who has led a normal life, has been careful about their health and their bodies and what they get exposed to,