4 ms·

Apologies if I've touched on a sore topic. How can I help to frame the immune system in a less misleading way?

DoreenMichele 6y ago
I don't know. I've developed mental models for what is pertinent to my needs, but I have no idea how to talk with other people about this stuff. My condition involves misprocessing of dietary fats. It took me ages to realize this was one of the ways my immune system was compromised: Bone marrow is fatty and is where white blood cells get produced. Avoiding fats I don't process well has dramatically reduced my symptoms overall, especially chronic inflammation. But getting enough of the right fats has proven critical to my health and well-being. Loading up on butter and other fats I tolerate well is the quickest way to stop bone pain and I'm convinced it's because that pain is due to stress on my immune system. Fasting has been beneficial and it took me years and years to realize that and to come up with mental models for why on Earth fasting would boost immune function. Extreme aquagenic wrinkling is a known tendency for my condition. As I've grown healthier, I'm less prone to that. It took me years and years to realize this suggests my skin is abnormally spongy and soaks things up instead of keeping things out and this is a really important way my immune function is compromised. So I have gotten a lot pickier about what I am willing to touch because my skin fails to do its job. It's like we don't tell people that the body's equivalent of windows and doors are even part of the equation. We act like the cameras and alarms are all there is to it and never talk about "If something is really whackadoodle, it's like all the windows are broken and none of the doors have locks, so it almost doesn't matter if the cameras and alarms work. You're screwed anyway."
- darkerside 6y ago
  Just jumping in here, but all I'd suggest is that other biological systems may be similarly complex in ways that don't necessarily impact you. And if we stopped to disambiguate every nuance, we'd never be able to have fruitful conversations. That said, I understand why this particular nuance is important to you and I think it's a helpful distinction to make that many may have not considered, so I appreciate you making it.
  - DoreenMichele 6y ago
    This is not just me being neurotic and over sensitive. I have tried to look up "the immune system" and found definitions indicating "it's how the body protects itself from invaders" and failing to list specific organs in the body. I have also made remarks trying to elucidate the lymphatic system and how it works. The circulatory system pumps it for half the equation. Most people seem to have no idea how the lymphatic system works either.

I don't know. I've developed mental models for what is pertinent to my needs, but I have no idea how to talk with other people about this stuff. My condition involves misprocessing of dietary fats. It took me ages to realize this was one of the ways my immune system was compromised: Bone marrow is fatty and is where white blood cells get produced. Avoiding fats I don't process well has dramatically reduced my symptoms overall, especially chronic inflammation. But getting enough of the right fats has proven critical to my health and well-being. Loading up on butter and other fats I tolerate well is the quickest way to stop bone pain and I'm convinced it's because that pain is due to stress on my immune system. Fasting has been beneficial and it took me years and years to realize that and to come up with mental models for why on Earth fasting would boost immune function. Extreme aquagenic wrinkling is a known tendency for my condition. As I've grown healthier, I'm less prone to that. It took me years and years to realize this suggests my skin is abnormally spongy and soaks things up instead of keeping things out and this is a really important way my immune function is compromised. So I have gotten a lot pickier about what I am willing to touch because my skin fails to do its job. It's like we don't tell people that the body's equivalent of windows and doors are even part of the equation. We act like the cameras and alarms are all there is to it and never talk about "If something is really whackadoodle, it's like all the windows are broken and none of the doors have locks, so it almost doesn't matter if the cameras and alarms work. You're screwed anyway."

darkerside 6y ago
Just jumping in here, but all I'd suggest is that other biological systems may be similarly complex in ways that don't necessarily impact you. And if we stopped to disambiguate every nuance, we'd never be able to have fruitful conversations. That said, I understand why this particular nuance is important to you and I think it's a helpful distinction to make that many may have not considered, so I appreciate you making it.
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  This is not just me being neurotic and over sensitive. I have tried to look up "the immune system" and found definitions indicating "it's how the body protects itself from invaders" and failing to list specific organs in the body. I have also made remarks trying to elucidate the lymphatic system and how it works. The circulatory system pumps it for half the equation. Most people seem to have no idea how the lymphatic system works either.