Perhaps the most fascinating part of the biological organism's the immune system. And the most reliable Manual of the immune system is "Janeway's immunobiology," Kenneth Murphy, Paul Travers, Mark Walport, 7 Edition, Garland Sience, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, New York and Abingdon. In particular, the instructions that Janeway gives of the immune system of the newborn, should be of interest here. Of course it is not ethically possible to dissect small babies and to look at the lymph vessels. In mice, there are fewer scruples. It was found out that in the first three weeks of life, in the mouse only regulatory cells are produced. Only then the thymus gland is mature enough to send off helper and killer cells to the periphery. Why? The organism is exposed to constant contact with pathogens and toxins. Would he respond to any of these substances with a specific defense response (ie helper and killer cells to respond), so he was in a constant state of inflammation, he would be constantly sick. Therefore, a "thick skin" of regulatory cells is established in the first life, so to speak. These regulatory cells then take care for the rest of life that relatively harmless substances (such as pollen in nose and lung or bacteria in the gut) are not immediately responded with "nuclear weapons", ie a specific immune response. Thus, the immune system learns in the first period of its development tolerance to relatively harmless pollutants. There are two examples that illustrate nicely this mechanism. Crohn's disease, and hay fever. Both developmental disorders of the immune system affecting the mucous membranes. What else, but the mucous membranes are most sensitive barrier of the organism against invading pathogens. Let's start with hay fever. Here is the "hygiene theory" cited to explain the disease. Quite right. If the immune system in early childhood comes not in contact with (here), bee pollen, the "thick skin" of regulatory cells can not develop. Namely the thymus produces only a very small number of cells to grow only in the periphery (in this case in the affected mucous membranes), and only in contact with the intruder to full number. The contact with pollen is essential to ensure that the regulatory cells can be stimulated to divide and populate the mucosa in sufficient number. This settlement does not take place, for example at city children who are not exposed to pollen, then finds himself in a mature immune system morbid majority of helper and killer cells. A pathologic inflammation in the hay fever season is the result. Hygiene theory proved. Crohn's disease (regional enteritis, a cruel chronic inflammation of the intestine, as usual with the reaching adulthood leads to death) has a very similar history. It is the lack of intestinal flora, which leads to the development disorder of the immune system. Professor JA Romijn (University of Amsterdam) has even bothered to write down the incidence of Crohn's disease in some developed countries (found in "Ernährungsmedizin und Diätetik", Kasper, Burghardt, Urban & Fischer, Elsevier, 11th edition, 2009, Munich ). It is noticeable that there were no cases of Crohn's disease before the last world war. Kasper and Burghardt explain this fact with the increasing sugar consumption after the war. Also been shown that children and adolescents (age these are not patients, but casualties) have an increased sugar intake. In order to propose a different idea for ​​the cause of Crohn's disease, the theory must first be exhausted. The increased consumption of sugar is not the cause of MC, but a side effectof it's cause. This side effect has psychological developmental causes. Namely, the infant lacks the intimacy with feeding from the breast, the evolving human being will comfort with an increased consumption of sweets on this gap in the psychological development time. This observed fact is below playing a role. Very well. As we have seen the example of the hygiene theory, pathogens are needed to adapted the developing immune system to the environment. If now the intestine of the infant is sterilized, thus "purified" of bacteria, the regulatory part of the immune system can not develop (see above). Sterilization of the intestine takes place whenever oral antibiotics are given to the infant. And the data given by Romijn fit exactly to the general introduction of antibiotics to public health care. Now would Crohn's desease disaster have a much greater degree if every antibiotic administration in infancy (from what age on this gift is not contraindicated, a note below) would lead to the MC. It must be added a sterile diet. Sterile diet is of course not the case if the child is breastfed! The maternal bacterial flora is retransmitted at each breast-time to the child's intestine. So the question is answered, why CD patients have such a big craving for sugar. They were not breastfed and now compensate with increased consumption of sweets. This is, for someone who is familiar to some extent with the development of the immune system, a completely clear relationship I've also adressed Professor Kenneth Murphy, WUSTL half a year ago, with this subject. Unfortunately, I then heard nothing more from him. There is an another medical issue that is related to the adjustment of the immune system to the environment (I've not finished yet!). Recently I've been listening on the radio (Deutschlandfunk) to a program on the vaccination of children. As has been mentioned, the children are vaccinated at the age of six to eight weeks, my hair stood on end! What happens during a vaccination? The thymus gland is stimulated to produce helper and killer cells. At a time in which it is absolutely forbidden, as well my comments show clearly enough! Well, the development of asthma, hay fever, rheumatism, and possibly multiple sclerosis, just everything there is such niceties in the context of autoimmune diseases, will show. Well vaccination and antibiotic therapy are indeed sometimes very beneficial. I can, for example, remember how a antibiotic therapy has cured me from a year-long bronchitis. But at what point, at what age should you engage in this form into the body without risking severe damage to the immune system? The answer to this questions we find at Professor Charles Janeway's Immunobiology. Much of what we know about the immune system, was obtained from the observation of genetically immunodefiencend children. One of these usually very rapidly leading to death gene defects blockes the MBL system. One speaks of the MBL gap in the preparedness of the child to defend pathogenes. This time window extends from the point at which the maternal antibodies are "consumed" up to the onset of the acquired immune response (so to speak until the child has developed "nuclear weapons"). The limit of this later time window should be the point from which on you can safely vaccinate (my Janeway edition, page 66). An anecdote about how I purchased my Janeway's might be nice here. The book seller recognized at first sight, that I am not a student (to old) and not a Physician, too (to poor). So he told me, this is not about Startrek or Captain Janeway. I countered this offension with a smile and suggested, may be it's just the other way around. The captain of Starship Voyager was named by Charles Janeway! But until today, I don't know exactly, who are the mircoorganisms? The Borg or Starship Voyager? Propably Starship Voyager, because the Borg never try to evade.