IMMUNE SYSTEMS:
The way God protects us
He is Supreme over His creatures, and He appoints guards to protect you... (6:61)
God perfected His creation as stated in verse 95:4 “We created man in the best design” and in 40:64 “...and He designed you, and designed you well... “
When a baby is born, he or she is protected by immune systems that can recognize certain microbes immediately and destroy them. If God did not provide us with immune systems, the population of people and animals in the world would probably be extinct, because we would not have any protection against diseases and infections.
The baby gradually grows and so does the immune system. Then, antibodies play a leading role against antigens. Antigens are produced or released by invaders or foreign molecules, such as bacteria, viruses, pollens, fungi, protozoa, worms, cancer cells, foreign tissues, worn out cells, etc. Antibodies, also called immunoglobulin (Igs), are proteins produced in response to a particular antigen and their response is very specific. There are five groups of antibodies: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD and IgE. Each of them has a specific job. God’s design is precise as stated in verse 77:23. “We measured it precisely. We are the best designers. “
How can the immune systems recognize viruses (influenza, HIV, hepatitis, measles), bacteria (tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy), pathogens (malaria, worms, sleeping sickness), or other foreign elements that enter our body and can infect us? When intruders enter our body, the white blood cells fight against them. To respond to various intruders, the leukocytes (white blood cells) have different types of blood cells, such as lymphocytes, monocytes and |
granulocytes (neutrophils, basophils and eosinophils). These cells have different roles to protect us. The lymphocytes have two different classes of immune responses:
Humoral immunity (B lymphocytes) originates from the bone marrow. B cells have antibodies on their surfaces so they can recognize foreign intruders directly. These antibodies are the most important factor in our defense system against infection, because they can bind antigens, they have the ability to recognize and neutralize bacteria toxin, then destroy them or coat the microbes, which increases their ability to engulf the pathogens. When B cells are activated, they divide and differentiate into plasma cells, and then the plasma cells secrete antibody proteins.
However, antibodies alone are not enough lo defend our body from hidden foreign intruders that slip very quickly inside the cells, like malaria, Leishmania, Pneumococci bacillus and viruses. Antibodies get help from cell-mediated immunity (T-lymph-ocyte) which originates from the thymus. Here the T cells play a role. Because T cells cannot see the whole antigens, they get help from their receptors and antigen-presenting cells which recognize and then ingest the antigens and split them into fragments of peptides. These peptides join MHC (major histocompatibility complex) molecules and appear on the surface of the T cells, which release chemical signals, lymphokines, that activate other parts of the immune systems. There are many kinds of T cells: cytotoxic T cell, helper T cell, inflammatory T cell, suppression T cell; each has a special job.
Various cells and molecules in the white blood cells, such as dendritic cells, macrophages, and natural-killer cells, help both B and T cells, so our immune system is perfect. These cells have the responsibility to recognize antigens, and then destroy them. They work with specific reactions. The duet of B and T lymphocytes cooperates to |
protect us against diseases. It is really amazing how the immune system works in concert. Who is the conductor? Who is the initiator? Who controls them?
He is the One who initiates and repeats. (85:13)
He creates and shapes. He designs and guides. (87:2-3)
He is the One God; the Creator, the Initiator, the Designer. (59:24)
Such is God your Lord, the Creator of all things. There is no god except He. How could you deviate? (40:62)
From previous experience with the infectious organisms, some T and B cells become memory cells, where some information about the invasion imprints and stays in the circulation. When the same foreign cells enter the body, the memory cells replicate T or B cells automatically and are ready to kill the antigens. That is why we rarely suffer for a second time from chicken-pox, measles, or whooping-cough. We never order them to replicate, but God designed our immune systems for protection against the infection, for our good health and survival.
To God prostrates everyone in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and so do their shadows in the mornings and the evenings. (13:15)
Such is God your Lord, there is no god except He, the Creator of all things. You shall worship Him alone. He is in control of all things. (6:102)
Not only does God protect our immune systems, He also restores damaged immune functions and suppresses them when they go uncontrolled. So, if God protects us through the immune systems, why do we sometimes get sick? We shouldn’t blame God; we should ask ourselves
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