This course introduces beginner learners to general information about a critically important system in the body — the immune system — whose complete failure renders life impossible. The immune system protects us from external pathogens, toxins, and internal threats such as cancers through multiple arms of immunity: specialized and nonspecialized, cellular and humoral. The immune response in any of its arms begins with recognizing the danger and foreign nature of the invader, followed by activation and stimulation of the immune system, and concludes with the destruction and elimination of the threat. This course aims to provide a general overview of each arm of immunity, its mechanisms, characteristics, and roles in disease, recovery, general health, autoimmune disorders, and in organ transplant acceptance or rejection.
It also covers important medical applications such as childhood vaccinations. There are also important laboratory and diagnostic uses of the immune system that we rely on. The course will explain many well-known and common conditions rooted in immune system functions, using the least amount of specialized technical terminology possible.
