the-truth-about-cancer

Episode 2: Are You Immune
rams into it it releases chemicals into the lining of that target cell until it
finally bursts open or lyses—l-y-s-e. It’ll lyse that cell wall and a juice
comes out, the cytoplasm. The same thing happens with cytotoxic T-
lymphocytes. The difference is the natural killer cell is non-specific
generally. It doesn’t care in any way whether or not there’s a herpes
virus in there, it doesn’t care if it is herpes I, herpes II, in other words
you got a variation of things that could be in there. It just generally
doesn’t like anything that doesn’t have a smiley face. The cytotoxic T-
lymphocyte, on the other hand, has been trained to look for one specific
fingerprint. So that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte that attacks herpes I won’t
attack cytomegalovirus, won’t attack roseola, won’t attack herpes II. In
other words, one cell one target of attack. B-cells are lymphocytes, T-
cells are lymphocytes.
On the blood panels you’ve got a CD4. That’s a T4. You got CD8’s,
that’s a T-8. They got subsets. Think of the T4 as a four star general. I
mean he’s sitting up at the top of the hill and he’s watching what’s going
on and troops are coming back and forth and giving him information.
Well, he’s got a couple of two star generals. They’re called T-helper
cells, also lymphocytes. T-helper subset one, T-helper subset two. Now
those two generals take responsibility. The TH2, he goes over and takes
care of all those B-cells and antibody production jobs. The TH1, he’s
going to stay over here and help regulate all these cellular killing which
will take place with those cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. It’ll also help with the
lymphocytes that call for memory.
So maybe you’ve have the measles. Maybe you’ve had the mumps.
You’re never going to have those again. Why Because those T-cells
that carry memory, you also need suppressor T-cells. You don’t need a
immune system that just fights and wars and kills and destroys because
there’s too much inflammation. You don’t want to be living in the middle
of a war zone. So a suppressor cell says, hey, cool it down man. We’ve
won this fight. Let’s go back, set up, have a good day, have a good rest,
and fight again when there’s another challenge. So that TH1 is keeping
track of all of that and largely keeps track also of those non-specific
cells, again, the macrophages, the neutrophils, the natural killers.
How do they regulate them Through what we call cytokines, chemical
messengers. Think of them as chemical emails or faxes. And so that’s
very important, not just the cells but also cellular communication. All of
this working, by the way Ty, we don’t give one thought to it. There is
more wisdom in one of these cells than there has been in all the libraries
that have ever been or now or every will be. I think that’s pretty cool. I
mean I’m old enough to remember Tricky Dick Nixon saying we’re going
to have a cure for cancer in ten years. Well, obviously, he wasn’t a math
major. So where is it Is there, in fact, even a cure for cancer Again,
The Quest for The Cures Page 39