research paper on immunity

8/3/2019 Research Paper on Immunity

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Research Paper on the Immunity

factor in Dhaka

Research done by

N a m e : S h i f a t h S h a m s

I D : 0 8 3 5 7 5 5 4 5

D e p a r t m e n t o f E E C S

Research done for

N a m e : S a b a h a t J a h a n

E N G 1 0 5 , S e c t i o n : 8

D a t e : 21st A p r i l , 2 0 1 0

D e p a r t m e n t o f E n g l i s h


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AcknowledgementsFirstly I would like to profusely thank Sabahat Jahan for her

help and guidance. Without her help, this project would never

have seen completion. My parents, for their vote of confidence,

My sister, for motivating me,

And specially my friends, who helped me all throughout the

project.

AbstractThis research paper contains information gathered on the

immunity factor in Dhaka. I set out to find whether or not

our population is exposed to a major immunity threat, which I

hypothesized that it indeed is. Also I wanted to find out how

aware on this problem. Surprisingly, I found out that an

additional reason, besides the common well known reasons, to

our problem, and that is our own lack of personal health care.

My hypothesis was proven correct, through a mixture of both

primary and secondary research.


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Table of Contents

Page No. Introduction 4

Background

o Definition...................................................... 6

o Importance................................................... 7

o History.......................................................... 7

o Types of Immunity..................................... 10

o Nature VS Science..................................... 11

Research Questions........................................... 19

Hypothesis........................................................... 19

Methodology........................................................ 20

Data Presentation and Analysis...................... 21

Summary of Research Findings....................... 26

Conclusion............................................................. 26

Reference............................................................. 27

Appendix............................................................... 28


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Introduction

No man is super human, but we do have the ability to beat almostanything. But when it comes to health care and diseases then we

realize how vulnerable we are. Sometimes it takes us so long to

understand this, that the time we start taking any action against it,

it might be too late.

So what happened to our population of Dhaka? With over 12 million

people, and around 2000 people entering Dhaka every day, the city is

becoming very congested. People come here for better paying jobs

and education, but what they dont realize first is where to live and

how is their expenditure going to be.

On the other hand, the number of public transportation has

decreased due to increased case of accidents and fraud drivers

license. So, though the population is increasing daily in a major

extent, they all have to travel on the limited bus and other public

transports available. This is also the reason of increased number of

private cars as some people are fed up using and relying on other

modes of transportation.

Taking the increased population as an advantage, many developer

companies have constructed (and still constructing) high-rise

buildings promising to tackle the lack of accommodation problem.

This increased number of overall transportation and high-rise

buildings has increased our citys temperature a lot. The vehicles

release heat to the environment and the buildings restrict the flow

of wind through the city.


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The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) data shows that

the annual average temperature was nearly

25 degrees in 1954 and the graph reached over 26.5 degrees Celsiusin 2004. (Sabuktagin, 2006).

This is why Dhaka is now one of the major Urban Heat Islands (UHI)

in the entire world.

Not only the heat, but other factors like increased quantity of

waste, increased consumption of limited drinking water, and most

importantly increase in sound pollution is seen due to this increasedpopulation.

Due to these problems the people are suffocating and suffering,

resulting in increased stress, headache, common cold, diarrhea, and

other physical problems. These clearly show that our immune system

is failing.

But most of our population is still not aware of it, and the people who

do simply ignore it as they know any initiatives taken for this

country by our government ends up in the huge rotting pile of the

other initiatives.

We have received the distinction of being "the second worst

polluted and unlivable city in the world" by the Economist

Intelligence Group but the question is, should we be proud of it?

(Star Weekend Magazine, 2nd March 2010)


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Background

Definition

According the renowned source Wikipedia, Immunity is a biological

term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses

to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion.

Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components.

The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators

of wide range of pathogens irrespective of antigenic specificity.

Other components of the immune system adapt themselves to each

new disease encountered and are able to generate pathogen-specific

immunity.

The immune system is a complex system of interactions involving

many organs and glands as well as substances such as bone marrow,

white blood cells, lymphatic vessels and serum factors in our blood.

Our immunity depends on all these components functioning together.

Importance

A healthy, properly functioning immune system is absolutely vital to

good health. It is the key to the healing process from the tiniest

scratch to the most complex virus. Even the aging process is

intimately linked with the immune system. Compromised immunity


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leaves us vulnerable to disease and impairs our ability to heal

properly and age well. People who have more than 2 or 3 colds or

infectious illnesses per year are likely suffering from weakenedimmunity.

History

The concept of immunity has intrigued mankind for thousands of

years. The prehistoric view of disease was that it was caused bysupernatural forces, and that illness was a form of the Ugric

punishment for bad deeds or evil thoughts visited upon the soul

by the gods or by ones enemies. Between the time of Hippocrates

and the 19th century, when the foundations of the scientific method

were laid, diseases were attributed to an alteration or imbalance inone of the four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile or black bile). Also

popular during this time was the miasma theory, which held that

diseases such as cholera or the Black Plague were caused by a

miasma, a noxious form of bad air. If someone were exposed to the

miasma, they could get the disease.

The modern word immunity derives from the Latin immunis,

meaning exemption from military service, tax payments or other

public services. The first written descriptions of the concept of

immunity may have been made by the Athenian Thucydides who, in

430 BC, described that when the plague hit Athens the sick and


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the dying were tended by the pitying care of those who had

recovered, because they knew the course of the disease and were

themselves free from apprehensions. For no one was ever attackeda second time, or not with a fatal result. The term immunes, is

also found in the epic poem Pharsalia written around 60 B.C. by the

poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus to describe a North African tribes

resistance to snake venom.

The first clinical description of immunity which arose from a

specific disease causing organism is probably Kitab fi al-jadari wa-al-

hasbah (A Treatise on Smallpox and Measles, translated 1848)

written by the Islamic physician Al-Razi in the 9th century. In the

treatise, Al Razi describes the clinical presentation of smallpox and

measles and goes on to indicate that that exposure to these specific

agents confers lasting immunity (although he does not use this

term). However, it was with Louis Pasteurs Germ theory of disease

that the fledgling science of immunology began to explain how

bacteria caused disease, and how, following infection, the human

body gained the ability to resist further insults.

Immunization, however, had existed in various forms for at least a

thousand years. The earliest use of immunization is unknown,

however, around 1000 A.D. the Chinese began practicing a form of

immunization by drying and inhaling powders derived from the crusts

of smallpox lesions. Around the fifteenth century in India, the


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Ottoman Empire, and east Africa, the practice of variolation (poking

the skin with powdered material derived from smallpox crusts)

became quite common. Variolation was introduced to the west in theearly 18th century by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. In 1796, Edward

Jenner introduced the far safer method of inoculation with the

cowpox virus, a non-fatal virus that also induced immunity to

smallpox. The success and general acceptance of Jenners procedure

would later drive the general nature of vaccination developed by

Pasteur and others towards the end of the 19th century.


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Types of Immunity

Adaptive immunity is often sub-divided into two major types

depending on how the immunity was introduced. Naturally acquired

immunity occurs through contact with a disease causing agent, when

the contact was not deliberate, whereas artificially acquired

immunity develops only through deliberate actions such as

vaccination. Both naturally and artificially acquired immunity can be

further subdivided depending on whether immunity is induced in the

host or passively transferred from an immune host. Passive

immunity is acquired through transfer of antibodies or activated T-

cells from an immune host, and is short lived, usually lasts only a few

months, whereas active immunity is induced in the host itself by

antigen, and lasts much longer, sometimes life-long. The diagram

below summarizes these divisions of immunity.


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Nature VS Science

So to improve our Immunity which method should we choose? To

possible answers are vaccination & medication, and improve personal

health care. First let us observe what the major reasons for

immunity reduction are.

Reasons

1. Lack of exercise: Sitting at your desk all day can not only make

you feel sluggish, it can leave your immune system sluggish, too.

Studies show that regular, moderate exercise like a daily 30

minute walk -- increases the level of leukocytes, an immune system

cell that fights infection. When youre a non-exerciser, your risk of

infections -- such as colds increase compared to those who

exercise.

Being inactive can weaken your immune system indirectly, too. A

sedentary lifestyle can interfere with sleep quality at night and can

lead to obesity and other problems that increase your risk of illness.

2. Being overweight: Carrying extra weight puts you at risk of

developing diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Part

of the reason may lie in how excess fat cells in your body affect

your immune system. A high number of fat cells trigger the release

of pro-inflammatory chemicals in the body, leading to chronic

inflammation. When the inflammation is ongoing, healthy tissues get

damaged. Animal studies also show that being overweight or obese


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can impair the immune system. For example, studies have shown that

obese and overweight mice make fewer antibodies after receiving

common vaccinations. Antibodies are a measured immune response tovaccination.

3. Eating foods high in sugar and fat: Consuming too much sugar

suppresses immune system cells responsible for attacking bacteria.

Even consuming just 75 to 100 grams of a sugar solution (about the

same as in two 12-ounce sodas) reduces the ability of white blood

cells to overpower and destroy bacteria. This effect is seen for at

least a few hours after consuming a sugary drink. A diet high in

saturated fat has a similar effect.

4. Experiencing constant stress: Everyone has some stress in their

lives. And short-term stress may actually boost the immune system

the body produces more cortisol to make fight or flight possible.

But chronic stress has the opposite effect. It makes you more

vulnerable to illness, from colds to serious diseases. Chronic stress

exposes your body to a steady cascade of the stress hormones

cortisol and adrenaline, which suppress the immune system.

5. Being socially isolated: Having strong relationships and a good

social network is important to your physical health as well as your

mental health and specifically your immune system. Several studies

support the idea that people who feel connected to friends

whether its a few close friends or a large group have stronger

immunity than those who feel alone. In one study, freshmen who


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were lonely had a weaker immune response to a flu vaccine than

those who felt connected to others. Another recent study found

that isolation changed the immune system on a cellular level: Beinglonely affected the way some genes that controlled the immune

system were expressed.

6. Pollution: Pollution is plays a major role in reducing our immunity.

Problems like stress, common cold, headaches, etc, which normally

cant be prevented by vaccination.

Prevention

Because so many viruses cause them, there isn't a vaccine that can

protect against catching colds. But to help prevent them, sufferers

should:

1. Common Cold

Try to steer clear of anyone who smokes or who has a cold.

Virus particles can travel up to 12 feet through the air when

someone with a cold coughs or sneezes, and secondhand

smoking is more likely to make people sick.

wash their hands thoroughly and frequently, especially after

blowing their noses

cover their noses and mouths when coughing or sneezing

(have them sneeze or cough into a shirtsleeve, though, not

their hands this helps prevent the spread of germs)


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Not use the same towels or eating utensils as someone who

has a cold. They also shouldn't share drinks from the same

glass, can, or bottle, because you never know who is about tocome down with a cold and is already spreading the virus.

not pick up other people's used tissues

Researchers aren't sure whether taking extra zinc or vitamin C can

limit how long cold symptoms last or how severe they become, but

large doses taken every day can cause negative side effects.

The results of most studies on the value of herbal remedies, such as

Echinacea, are either negative or inconclusive, and few properly

designed scientific studies of these treatments have been done.

Talk to your doctor before you decide to take any herbal remedy or

more than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of any vitamin or

supplement.

2. Stress

Identify the source of the problem. Whether it's an

unrealistic workload, job insecurity, inadequate

compensation, office politics or a hostile workenvironment, you need to figure out what's making you

miserable at work and then take steps to deal with it.

Develop friendships at work and outside the office.

Sharing unsettling feelings with people you trust is the


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first step toward resolving them. Minimize activities with

"negative" people who only reinforce bad feelings.

Take time off. Take a vacation or a long weekend. Duringthe workday, take short breaks.

Set limits. When necessary, learn to say no in a friendly

but firm manner.

Choose battles wisely. Don't rush to argue every time

someone disagrees with you. Keep a cool head, and save

your argument for things that really matter.

Get a hobby. Read, enjoy a hobby, exercise or get

involved in some other activity that is relaxing and gets

your mind off work.

Seek help. If none of these things relieves your feelings

of stress or burnout, ask a health care professional for

advice.

3. Headache

Most of the time headaches get better or go away with home

treatment and do not require a visit to a doctor. Home

treatment for headaches can often help reduce the severity of

pain and the length of time the pain is present. Home

treatment may also relieve other symptoms, such as fever,

nausea or vomiting, anxiety, or muscle aches. Start home

treatment as soon as you can. Be sure to review the home

treatment information for any other symptoms you may have.


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If your doctor has prescribed a specific treatment for your

headaches, begin treatment as soon as a headache starts. Be

sure to follow his or her instructions when taking anyprescription medicine for your headache. For mild pain without

other symptoms, try the following:

Rest in a quiet, dark room.

Place a cool compress on your forehead.

Do not smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs

Medicine you can buy without a prescription

Try a nonprescription medicine to help treat your pain

Acetaminophen (Paracetamol)

Aspirin (also a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug)

You may be able to reduce the frequency and severity of your

headaches by trying:

Relaxation exercises. These exercises can help take

away tension and stress that cause headaches or

make them worse.

Heat, such as hot water bottles, heating pads, or

hot baths, to relax tense muscles. Be careful not to

burn yourself.

Ice, such as an ice pack applied to the back or the

neck or the temples.

Massage therapy and biofeedback, which can

reduce muscle tension, especially in your neck and

shoulder muscles. This muscle tension can cause

headaches or make them worse.


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Fighting Back

1. Regular exercise: If you want to boost your immune system, get

active. Getting your heart rate up for just 20 minutes just threetimes a week is associated with increased immune function, and a

brisk walk five days a week can help reduce your risk of catching a

cold. Regular exercise increases the level of leukocytes, an immune

system cell that fights infection. Exercise also is associated with

increased release of endorphins, natural hormones that pump up your

sense of well being and improve sleep quality, both of which have

positive effects on your immune system.

2. Get more antioxidants in your diet: A diet rich in antioxidantvitamins and nutrients can boost immunity to help fight infection.

Your body produces free radicals -- molecules that can damage cells.

Antioxidants help neutralize free radicals so they cant do any

damage. Researchers believe that when the balance between free

radicals and antioxidants is upset, it can contribute to developing

cancer and heart disease, as well as age-related diseases.

Top antioxidants include vitamins C and E, plus beta-carotene andzinc. To get enough of these antioxidants in your diet, experts

recommend eating an abundance of brightly colored fruits and

vegetables, including berries, citrus fruits, kiwi, apples, red grapes,

kale, onions, spinach, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

3. Adequate sleep: Fatigue increases your susceptibility to illness

you may have noticed youre more likely to catch a cold or other

infection when youre not getting enough sleep. A lab experiment

bears this out: When students at the University ofChicago was limited to only four hours of sleep a night for six nights

and then given a flu vaccine, their immune systems produced only

half the normal number of antibodies. Like stress, insomnia can

cause a rise in inflammation in the body possibly because lack of

sleep also leads to an increase in the stress hormone cortisol.

Although researchers arent exactly sure how sleep boosts the

immune system, its clear that getting adequate amounts usually 7

to 9 hours for an adult is essential to good health.


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4. Practice relaxation techniques: If chronic stress suppresses

the immune system, then learning techniques to reduce stress should

help return your immune system to health and maybe even give it

an additional boost. Reducing stress lowers levels of cortisol. It alsohelps you sleep better, which improves immune function. And some

studies show that people who meditate regularly may be able to

increase their immune system response. In one experiment, people

who meditated over an

8-week period produced more antibodies to a flu vaccine than people

who didnt meditate. And they still showed an increased immune

system response four months later.

5. Laugh: Comedy is good for you. Laughing decreases the levels ofstress hormones in the body while increasing a type of white blood

cell that fights infection. In fact, even just anticipating a funny

event can have a positive effect on your immune system. In one

study, a group of men who were told three days in advance that they

were going to watch a funny video saw levels of stress hormones

drop while levels of endorphins and growth hormones rose. Both

endorphins and growth hormones benefit the immune system.


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Research QuestionsIn my research, I will try to answer the following questions:

How aware are people about their immune system?

What are the symptoms we need to look for?

At what extent are people vulnerable to the diseases which

reduce their immunity against common illness?

How our modern lifestyles play an important role in this

problem?

Which group of people is exposed to this problem the most?

What is the governments role in this matter?

Can our immune system recover and improve by medication?

Besides medication how can we adapt a resistance to this

problem?

HypothesisThe immunity of Dhaka city reduces due to increase of pollution, lack

of personal hygiene, increased dependency on drugs or medicines,

and complete ignorance of physical exercise. Nearly everyone who

goes out daily for studying, working, etc. is primary victims in this

situation.


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MethodologyFor my primary research, I will conduct a survey among NSU and

other private university students, plus some office going personals. I

will design a questionnaire with different types of questions, which

will help me answer my research questions.

For my secondary research, I plan to use the resources, journals and

magazines from our NSU library and the Internet. I plan to use the

standard research engines like Yahoo and Google as well as large

reference sites.


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Data Presentation and Analysis

I have a total of 30 surveys and 2 interviews to analyze my topic.The 1st question was whether or not they lived abroad, if yes for how

long? 53% (16 out of 30) of them said NO they have not, and only 1%

lived less than 6 months. The rest lived 3 years or above.

The people who lived overseas less than 6 months can be considered

visitors and so I assume they fall under the No category. I will

answer the reason behind asking this question in the following two

graphs which was two of my other questions asked in the survey.


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Q. How often do you fall sick?

Here we see that most of the people who have been overseas rarely

fall sick and only a fraction of them fall sick randomly, whereas the

person who has not been abroad is seen to fall sick randomly.

Seasonal sickness is seen equal for both categories. The reason

could be that the person who lived abroad has a better lifestyle

which has not changed even after coming to Dhaka. But our native

people (who have never been abroad) should have adapted our

environment; instead they are the ones who are the victims becauseof poor lifestyle even in higher society.


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From this figure we can clearly guess that Common Cold is the major

sickness seen among our population. After that fever is the main

sickness seen. Colds are most contagious during the first 2 to 4 days

after symptoms appear, and may be contagious for up to 3 weeks.

You can catch a cold from person-to-person contact or by breathing

in virus particles spread through the air by sneezing or coughing.

Touching the mouth or nose after touching skin or another surface

contaminated with a rhinovirus can also spread a cold. And fever is

caused by excess heat and trauma we have to face in our daily life.


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Some other graphs to notice


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So from the five graphs above we can see that nearly 60% of the

people spend 4~6 Hours per day outside their house, and most of

them use public transportation like rickshaw and bus. This means

that two-third of the people are at risk because in this congested

city who knows what the other person is carrying (I mean diseases).

Moreover, our life has become so busy and hectic that people dont

have time to work out anymore. People rely greatly on medication like

taking aspirin or paracetamol to get relief from headaches and pains.

I am not saying that medication is bad, but taking it whenever youhave a headache or pain might increase you reliability on the

medicines, resulting in the reduction of natural immunity.

Summary of Findings


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What I have found through my primary research is that we have

become so busy in our daily lives that we neglect the other

necessities to stay fit and immune. But we are not responsibleentirely. In most cases our situation is responsible for it. Not to

forget our government. Even with vaccines, poor quality medication

and filthy streets opens the door to limitless diseases.

ConclusionSo we see that heat, sound, population, waste, medication,

transportation, our lifestyle, and our governments negligence are

the major causes for the reduction of our immune system and they

are all connected to each other. This is indeed a threat and unless

our ruling body takes any action against it, we will have to see aplagued dark future.

ReferenceAbedin, E. (2008, September 14). Headache: The most common health

Problem [Electronic version]. The New Age.

Admin. (2009, May 29), Bangladesh, Dhaka: unusually early outbreak of diarrhea.

IRC. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from http://www.irc.nl/page/48254

Admin. (2009, March 15), 11 healthy foods you should be eating and

reasons why [Electronic version]. Dhaka Mirror.

Admin. (2009, March 15), Out of shape and into yoga: One man discovers

the relief of exercise after years on the couch [Electronic version].Dhaka Mirror.

Admin. (n.d.). 10 Immune system buster and booster. WebMD. Retrieved


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April 12, 2010, from http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/10-immune-

system-busters-boosters

Admin. (n.d.). Strengthen the immune system naturally. Herbal Remedies Info.

Retrieved April 12, 2010, fromhttp://www.herbalremediesinfo.com/immune-system.html

Alam, M. S. U. (2010, January 22), Coping with stress [Electronic version]. Star

Weekend magazine, 9(4).

Amin, A. M. , Hossain, A. , & Hussain, A. M. (2010, March 12). Where the sane

fear to tread [Electronic version]. Star Weekend Magazine, 9(11).

Ariquzzaman, S. , (2010, March 12), Food Hygiene [Electronic version]. Star

Weekend Magazine, 9(11).

Islam, M. S. (2008, October 25). Blazing Dhaka: An urban heat island

[Electronic version]. The Daily Star.

Medline. (2010, February 19), The common cold [Electronic version]. Star

Weekend Magazine, 9(8).


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Appendix

In this section the following materials are

included

1. Outline


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2. Research Proposal (Graded)

3. Interview Questions

4. Proposed Questionnaire

(Graded)

5. 10 Completed Questionnaires

6. Copies of Secondary Sources

Outline

Thesis Statement

The natural immunity of the people of Dhaka is reducing in a

threatening manner. If we dont change our habits and if the

government doesnt act on the initiatives they have taken, we will


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lose our immunity even to the simplest of diseases and we will be

bound to heavily rely on medication and vaccines.

Introduction

What is Immunity and Immune system?

o Definition

o Types

o History

Symptoms seen

o Frequency of sickness

Common Cold

Headache

Fever

How does our lifestyle affect our immunity?

o Lifestyle of a person who has lived abroad for a long time

o Lifestyle of a person who have not.

At what extent is our cities pollution responsible for this

problem?

Is medication a permanent answer to this problem?

Our Governments role in this matter.

research paper on immunity

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