The white pulp in the spleen is where many of your white blood cells live, including the B-cells and the T-cells of your adaptive immune system. These immune cells help you to develop resistance to infection and are based on your exposure to things. The baby B-cells that are born from stem cells in the bone marrow, go to the spleen to complete their development. Here they learn to recognize or “match” to specific “antigens” (anything your immune system identifies as non-self and a potential threat). When they are fully developed they can head out to patrol the blood circulation, though many will remain in the spleen or set up home in the various lymph nodes in the body. They keep their senses honed for an antigen that is a perfect match. If they find one and become activated they start to make antibodies that will attach to that invader and bring it down. A fully mature B-cell can make antibodies at the astonishing rate of about 2000 molecules per second. Although many die after just a few days (and so need to be replaced, which is where Immunity Driver may also be needed to help stimulate new cell growth), some memory B cells survive for months or years and continue to secrete antibodies into the blood. This is how you learn to remember and develop immunity to infection. Your spleen will be producing lots of antibodies during an infection. The T-cells also live in the spleen. These immune cells help to drive and control your immune system response. They must first go to school in the thymus to learn how to develop.

The Omentum is a fatty sheath that lines the abdominal cavity and the abdominal organs. It helps to hold the abdominal organs in place, protects them from shock, and supplies them with nutrients. Milky spots in the omentum are patches of white blood cells that help to cleanse and protect the abdominal area. It is a very metabolically active tissue, producing hormones and other chemicals. It has an important role in controlling immune function, helping to drive an immune response but, equally importantly, producing signals that help to damp down an immune response that may be raging out of control. It is also a source of stem cells that can head off to a site of injury to regenerate new tissue. In an infection that affects the tissues of the abdomen, the omentum can form collagen to seal off the area and prevent the spread of infection. If the omentum absorbs extra fat it becomes thicker and harder and we see that classic apple-shaped pot belly. This tissue can then become unhealthy and a source of hormone and immune system messengers that drive inflammation and increase the risk for many health conditions.

Your thymus is a little two-lobed organ that lies beneath your breastbone, close to your heart. It is the master gland of your immune system. It contains all the knowledge that allows your immune system to know self from non-self and therefore when to react and when to let be (known as tolerance). Tolerance is one of the most important functions of the immune system, not just in developing tolerance to your own tissues but also in developing tolerance to relatively harmless environmental triggers like food proteins, dust or pollens that will trigger allergy reactions in a hypersensitive immune system.

At the school of the thymus, the T-Lymphocyte cells (T stands for thymus) go to learn how to best defend and protect you. Some T-cells learn how to become killers, some become helpers and others become suppressors that put the brakes on when needed. T-cells control every aspect of the adaptive immune response in one way or another. They learn how to distinguish self from non-self by being able to spot identifying markers on the outside of cells. In fact, killer T-cells have the ability to peer within the cell, with a sort of second sense that allows them to spot any intruders within. An infected cell is usually destroyed in the attack. It’s a tough school to graduate from. Only about 2% of T-Cells make the grade, the rest are destroyed. Those that bind too weakly, which would result in a deficient immune response; and those that bind too strongly, which may cause the immune system to react to self-tissues are weeded out. The thymus is most active in childhood and shrivels as we get older, naturally, but also perhaps because we don’t look after it properly.

In many traditions, the thymus is believed to govern the flow of life energy through all the body’s meridians (energy channels). The thymus is also involved in maintaining a balance between the two hemispheres of the brain. It plays a role in keeping you centered and balanced, not just in immune function but in all aspects of your life. To remain centered is our optimal state of being. In having such a pivotal position between mind and body it is one of the first organs to be affected by stress. Hans Selye, who discovered the fight and flight response, found that the body’s first response to stress is shrinking of the thymus gland and we know that excess or long-term stress hormone production will shrink the thymus. The thymus can shrink to half its size within a 24-hour period, during infection, with extreme stress, or trauma, for example. The thymus is particularly adversely affected by feelings of hate, fear, and hopelessness. On the positive side, emotions like love, gratitude, and faith can energize the thymus and therefore all aspects of your immunity and ability to heal and recover.

Issues: People that are susceptible to infections, swollen glands, allergic reactions or autoimmune conditions may have weakened thymus, or spleen function. Consider a Spleen Driver priority with long-term infection, allergy, and autoimmune conditions.

The omentum may have been damaged in surgery. Consider the harmful effects of excess visceral belly fat on immune and inflammatory conditions.

Emotionally the spleen can be adversely affected by worry, obsessive thinking, and holding grudges. Emotionally the thymus is adversely affected by any stress, particularly hate and fear.

ED 14 SPLEEN/THYMUS DRIVER

Action: 

Become Centred.

Questions:

What’s knocking me off-center?

How could emotions be affecting my resistance to illness?

How could emotions around not feeling safe be contributing to hypersensitivity of the immune system?

If my illness indicates a lack of distinction between self and non-self, what do I not understand about myself?

Go For It:

Nourish your Immune System with an anti-inflammatory, rainbow diet, with adequate protein (needed to make immune system cells). Nutrients that are particularly important for immune system function include antioxidant vitamins A, C, and D,  as well as the minerals zinc and selenium.

Bone broth. Contains immunoglobulins – so it nourishes your immune system, as well as your bone and your gut. Or make a lovely spicy bowl of chicken soup.

Become centered through grounding, breathing, and relaxing.

Laughter, especially a good, deep belly laugh, stimulates the thymus, boosts the immune system, and shakes off stress.

Lose belly fat, which can trigger inflammation and other immune issues.

Positive thinking. The thymus is enervated by positive thinking, willpower, and hopefulness.

The thymus thump, done regularly, helps to energize the thymus.

Spleen Driver Infoceutical:

The Spleen Driver Infoceutical helps you to get centered, bringing balance to your immune system and your mind and body.

It helps to drive antibody production and aids resistance to infection, allergies, and autoimmune reactions.

It helps to coordinate left-right brain balance and so may be helpful with learning and emotional difficulties.

Bottom Line: Thymus, Spleen, and Long-term Immunity

There are overlaps between the Immune and Spleen Drivers. The simplest distinction is that you are looking at the formation of baby immune system cells and kick-starting your immune system with Immune Driver; and the training and regulation of immune system cells in long-term immunity with the Spleen Driver. The Spleen Driver matches to the spleen, the omentum, and the thymus.

Your spleen is the largest organ in your lymphatic system. It manages the flow of lymph and blood and supports and promotes immune functions. The Immune Driver matches the red and the white pulp of the spleen. The red pulp is full of blood vessels and the white pulp contains lymph tissue and white blood cells of the immune system.

Red pulp acts as a store for blood and it’s also where the blood is cleansed of old and worn-out blood cells. Your spleen holds about a cup of blood that can be squeezed into the bloodstream in situations where your body requires extra blood. The blood-cleansing role of the spleen is carried out by the macrophage “big eater” cells that reside in the spleen. In an infection that affects the red blood cells, the spleen can swell considerably as the macrophages become congested with a large number of defective cells that need clearing. Luckily the spleen is a very flexible organ that can contract and relax extensively and can quickly return to normal size once an infection is cleared. The red pulp of the spleen also holds communities of white blood cells that can be sent out into the circulation to help repair tissue damage.