A and P Ch 14

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A and P Ch 14

• Lymphatic System

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Crucial player in your health

• Like Cinderella, the lymph labors quietly in
  the shadows to clean up the mess made by
  virtually all the other systems of the body.
  Widely regarded as a lesser sister to the
  circulatory system, the lymphatic system is
  actually a crucial player in your bodys ability
  to ward off disease and heal from injury.

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Twice as much Lymph as blood

• In America our practitioners dont think much
  about the lymph system until something goes wrong
  usually when infection causes a swollen lymph
  node, or worse, when we develop cancer in a lymph
  gland, or cancer elsewhere that metastasizes
  through the lymph vessels.
• The reality is that you have twice as much lymph
  fluid in your body as blood. The lymph
  continuously bathes each cell and drains away the
  detritus in a circulatory system powered only by
  your breathing and movement. If the movement of
  the lymph stopped entirely you would die in a
  matter of hours.
• What can you do to ensure your lymph system stays
  healthy? There are a number of ways to support
  lymphatic function that should be part of every
  persons health habits. Lets start by exploring
  this amazing system.

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Anatomy of the lymph system

• The first thing to understand about your lymph
  system is its vast extent. Like the circulatory
  system that supplies blood, the network of lymph
  vessels serves almost every cell in your body.
• Strung along the lymph vessels like pearls
  knotted on a string, the lymph nodes serve as a
  series of cleaning filters. Lymphatic fluid
  percolates through the nodes, being purified and
  immunologically boosted at every stage.

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Lymph tissue

• The lymph vessels and nodes are made of lymph
  tissue, but so are many other parts of the body.
  One crucial function of lymph tissue is
  generating and storing white blood cells, the
  blood cells that fight infection. Besides the
  lymph nodes, principal lymph organs include the
  bone marrow (where white blood cells called
  B-lymphocytes are made), the spleen, tonsils and
  the thymus gland (where T-lymphocytes are made).
  Lymphoma is a group of related cancers of the
  lymphocytes.

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GALT

• The largest concentration of lymph tissue in
  the body surrounds the intestines. Called
  gut-associated lymphatic tissue, or GALT, this
  tissue is the guardian of this largest gateway
  through the bodys defenses, and it actively
  separates desirable nutrients from undesirable
  pathogens, and helps mount a defense whenever
  needed.

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Interstitial or ECF

• From one-third to two-thirds of the plasma
  entering a capillary passes into the tissue
  space. The cells in the tissue space are bathed
  in this interstitial or extracellular fluid (ECF)
  that has been filtered from the blood. Here in
  the tissue space, then, is where cells acquire
  all their needs and deposit all their products.

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The flow of lymph fluid

• The lymph systems primary function is to
  isolate infection and cellular detritus from the
  rest of the body and deal with it. Imagine you
  are looking at a handful of living cells through
  a microscope. A capillary (the smallest blood
  vessel) delivers blood with its oxygen and
  nutrients. The local cells use these nutrients
  and excrete waste. There may be pathogens or
  antigens present that create an immune response,
  leaving dead cells and perhaps live infection.
  Some of the blood and waste products are picked
  up by tiny veins. But much of the vascular fluid
  and waste and hopefully all of the live
  infection is picked up by tiny lymph vessels.

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Lymph nodes

• Like tributaries trickling into a stream that
  feeds a slow-moving river, the lymph system
  transports lymph fluid through ever-widening
  vessels, moving it through 500 filtration and
  collection points your lymph nodes. At each
  successive node the lymph fluid is filtered and
  bacteria is removed. If lymph fluid is blocked in
  one lymph node it will usually take a detour, but
  when blockage is extreme it can cause the lymph
  fluid to back up and cause swelling in the
  surrounding tissue, a condition known as
  lymphedema.

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Lymph Trunks

• The far-reaching lymph vessels merge at
  certain points to form lymphatic trunks. You have
  six major lymph trunks in your body, each
  responsible for draining filtered fluid from one
  region of the body.
• The lumbar and intestinal trunks drain a large
  volume of purified lymph fluid upward from your
  lower extremities, pelvis and abdomen into the
  cisterna chyli, a widened collection pouch at the
  base of the thoracic duct (see diagram).

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Chyle

• Digestive fats from our food are meanwhile
  absorbed in the small intestine and then drawn
  into the lymphatic system for transport to the
  bloodstream via the cysterna chyli. This milky
  mixture of digestive fats and lymph is known as
  chyle.

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Into the subclavian vein

• The now enriched and purified lymph travels up
  your torso through the thoracic duct along the
  left side of your esophagus. It merges here with
  the lymph from your left trunk and arm, and
  finally returns to the bloodstream at its
  junction with the left subclavian vein, located
  above your heart and under your collarbone. A
  much smaller volume of filtered lymph fluid from
  nodes and trunks along the right side of your
  head, neck and arm is fed back into the
  bloodstream by the right lymphatic duct, on the
  right-hand side of your collarbone.

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And there is no PUMP

• Amazingly, the lymphatic system has no central
  pump but depends on muscle contraction and manual
  manipulation to move fluid. Deep breathing is
  another essential way we can enhance movement of
  lymph through our bodies. And importantly, the
  organs of elimination (skin, kidney, liver,
  bladder, small and large intestines) need to be
  doing their jobs well so that the lymph does not
  get overwhelmed with waste products.

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Toxic dump!!

• If the lymph system gets blocked or overrun
  (due to illness, surgery, toxic overload or lack
  of activity), lymph fluid backs up. This can
  cause swelling, joint pain, nausea and fatigue.
  Stagnant lymph may be stored within nodes for a
  long period of time but eventually becomes too
  toxic for the body to handle well.

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Negative effects of chronic lymph blockages

• All things in nature have a natural
  progression when this motion is inhibited or
  jammed, concerns arise and when it occurs in
  your lymph system, you feel it quickly.
• Think again of a river a healthy river runs
  clean and clear. A brackish river chugs along,
  thick with soot and silt that gets snagged,
  pocketing pollution in small pools along the way.
  Eventually, the sluggish river can become a
  breeding ground for bacteria and disease. The
  same is true for your lymph.

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Excessive damp

• Because lymph cleanses nearly every cell in
  your body, symptoms of chronic lymph blockage are
  diverse but can include worsened allergies and
  food sensitivities, frequent cold and flu
  infections, joint pain, headaches and migraines,
  menstrual cramps, arthritis, fibrocystic breasts,
  breast tenderness, sinusitis, loss of appetite
  and GI issues, muscle cramping, tissue swelling,
  fatigue, mental fuzziness, mood irregularities,
  depression, parasites, skin breakouts, acne, and
  cellulite. In general, you may feel tired and
  toxic, with a heaviness in your abdomen. In
  Chinese medicine, practitioners call this
  excessive damp that undermines your whole
  health.

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Stagnant interferes with cleansing

• Stagnant lymph can also interfere with the
  systems ability to cleanse more potentially
  hazardous concerns, such as bacteria and
  cancerous or diseased cells from organ tissue.
  Viral infections, bacteria, and cancerous or
  mutagenic cells move through the lymph fluid,
  where they are targeted and destroyed in the
  lymph nodes when the system is adequate to the
  task.

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Lymph nodes

• The lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped pockets
  interspersed along the lymph network almost
  everywhere from your nose to your knees.
• Lymph nodes counteract infection by filtering the
  lymph fluid, engulfing and removing any bacteria
  and foreign substances identified. Once a
  particular pathogen is detected, lymph nodes help
  customize antibodies to neutralize it. In a
  nutshell, immature lymphocytes mature in the bone
  marrow and thymus and are sent off to work in the
  lymph nodes and lymph tissue. There they wait
  until an offending substance happens along in the
  lymph fluid. Then, with the help of other
  defensive cells called APCs (antigen-presenting
  cells), they target the invaders and create
  specific antibodies to get rid of them.
• Swelling in certain node sites generally
  indicates an infection in the part of the body
  drained by those nodes. Its a good sign when you
  develop swollen glands it means your lymph
  system is doing its job.

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The function of the spleen and immunity

• The largest organ in your lymph system, your
  spleen is actually like a big lymph node, except
  that it filters your blood rather than your lymph
  fluid. The spleen houses a concentrated amount of
  immune cells and is designed to bring lymphocytes
  into contact with the blood, making it a major
  player in your ability to ward off blood-borne
  diseases and antigens. The spleen also removes
  worn-out red and white blood cells, platelets,
  and any other hazardous blood-borne debris.
• An enlarged spleen, which can be a symptom of
  mononucleosis or the EpsteinBarr virus, is prone
  to injury and should be taken seriously. In our
  culture, the spleen is sometimes removed if its
  function declines or persistent swelling is a
  concern. A swollen spleen places a patient at a
  higher risk for hemorrhage (if it ruptures), so
  some doctors decide to remove a suboptimal spleen
  to avoid the risk.
• In Eastern cultures, where the spleen and the
  lymph system are taken much more seriously, this
  is tantamount to clipping a birds wings. The
  bird will not die, but it will never fly very
  high again. In Chinese medicine the spleen
  governs the blood. Without the guardianship of
  the spleen, the blood is weakened, can become
  either blocked or dilute, and has more difficulty
  supporting the rest of the organs.

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Spleen or de-spleen???

• I often hear patients say, You can live without
  your spleen. My response is usually, Yes, but
  how well? Of course, if you must undergo spleen
  removal you should feel confident that your other
  organs can compensate for your lost immunity. But
  if you have a choice, you should make your
  decision knowing that the spleen exists for a
  reason. It does not operate in a void, and
  surgically removing it usually does have
  long-term immunological consequences.
• Most spleen concerns can be treated with an
  alternative protocol that includes a lot of rest,
  supplements, and supportive enzymes. As long as
  you are not endangering a swollen spleen with
  reckless activities, taking the time to heal it
  from the inside out is preferable to having it
  yanked. For a long time tonsils were treated with
  the same indifference (the lymph system just
  cant get respect) now its generally accepted
  that its healthier to keep them.

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• No organ in the body should be treated as
  disposable. That kind of thinking is based on the
  fractured Western paradigm. But of course, all
  systems of the body are interconnected! Think of
  it this way if you didnt have a road map or
  welcome signs, would the landscape show any hint
  that youd just crossed a state line? Nature
  respects few manmade boundaries, and when it
  comes to the map of your body, this is evident in
  the overreaching web that connects organ tissue
  to the lymph system and the lymph system to the
  immune, circulatory, endocrine, and digestive
  systems.

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TONSILLITIS

• Tonsillitis is an infection and swelling of
  the tonsils. The condition is caused by bacteria
  or viruses that have entered the body through the
  mouth or sinuses. In addition to swollen and red
  tonsils, symptoms include a mild or severe sore
  throat, fever, chills, muscle aches, earaches,
  and tiredness. Although anyone can be afflicted
  with tonsillitis, the disease is most common in
  children between the ages of five and ten.
• For mild cases of tonsillitis, treatment
  usually involves bed rest and drinking extra
  fluids. The body usually brings the infection
  under control within a few days. If the case is
  more severe, penicillin or other antibiotics may
  be prescribed to combat the infection. If an
  individual suffers repeatedly from severe
  tonsillitis, the tonsils may be removed
  surgically. That procedure is called a
  tonsillectomy.

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WWW Web sites

• Human Body Project Lymphatic Systemhttp//www.tr
  ms.ga.net/jtucker/students/human/lymphaticSite
  provides a brief overview of the lymphatic
  system its functions and major organs, its
  interaction with other body systems, and the
  various diseases and disorders that can affect
  it.
• Human Lymphatic System Tutorialhttp//www.pblsh.c
  om/Healthworks/lymphart.htmlAn article that
  provides a nontechnical overview of the lymphatic
  system, focusing on its parts and what can go
  wrong.
• Lymphatic Systemhttp//www.bae.ncsu.edu/bae/cours
  es/bae495g/1998/slides/lymph/index.htmSite
  contains fifty-four slides (links) that provide
  information or answer questions about the
  lymphatic system and its various parts.
• Lymphoma Resources Pagehttp//www.alumni.caltech.
  edu/mike/lymphoma.htmlAn extensive and
  well-organized site presenting information on
  Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as
  they affect both adults and children. Also
  includes a glossary and a list of books focusing
  on lymphomas.
• National Center for HIV, STD, TB
  Preventionhttp//www.cdc.gov/nchstp/hiv_aids/dhap
  .htmHomepage of the CDC's division of HIV/AIDS
  prevention. Presents recent information on HIV
  and AIDS.
• Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Web Pagehttp//www.nh-lymp
  homa.mcmail.com/A site developed by a sufferer
  of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma to provide readers with
  a view of the disease, covering initial symptoms,
  diagnosis, treatment, and possible cures.
• Understanding Lymphomahttp//www.lymphoma.ca/llsd
  t.htmA site run by the Lymphoma Research
  Foundation of Canada that provides an overview of
  the lymphatic system and the causes, diagnosis,
  and treatment of lymphomas.
• Virtual Anatomy Textbook The Lymphatic
  Systemhttp//www.acm.uiuc.edu/sigbio/project/upda
  ted-lymphatic/lymph1.htmlSite provides a brief
  but informative look into the body's defense
  system. Text and illustrations/pictures explain
  the various parts of the lymphatic system.