(Original post question for your reference; Select one of the following vulnerabilities or another that you have heard about before. Some examples are:

Organ transplant, Disease of the immune system, A form of cancer. Answer the following in your description:

How are problems detected at the microbial level?

How does it interact with the immune system?

How has the information from this week changed the way you previously thought about the scenario? ) 

Prompt 1: I will be discussing Type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the immune system is attacking the cells in the pancreas that makes the insulin. Insulin is what removes the sugar from the blood to convert it into an energy source. Without insulin, the sugar cannot get into the cells to do what it is supposed to do. The main screening test to diagnose type 1 Diabetes is the random blood sugar test. It tells the provider how much sugar is circulating in the patient’s blood at the moment. The second test is the glycated hemoglobin test or what is known to be called the A1C test. This test gives the average amount of blood sugar of the patient for the past three months. It is the test that shows how much sugar is attached to the hemoglobin. The more sugar is attached the higher the sugar levels are. To distinguish type 1 and type 2, the provider will check specific autoantibodies tests such as insulin antibodies and islet cell antibodies. The information I gathered regarding this disease and this week’s topic helped me learn more about the disease process of other illnesses. It has given me a different point of view.

Prompt 2: Melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. It occurs when the pigment producing cells that give color to the skin become cancerous. It unfortunately is quite common at more than 200,000 cases in the US a year. A biopsy on the possible area will be performed such as shave (tangential), punch, optical, excisional or incisional biopsy. The cells of the sample will then be examined and tests may be performed to confirm the diagnosis. These tests include immunohistochemistry, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and gene expression profiling. These tests can show the seriousness of the disease including the motorícele rate which is how fast the cells are actively dividing. Gene changes are also examined including a mutation in the BRAF gene which is quite common in cases. Melanoma is one of the most immunogenic tumors. It’s interaction with the immune system is still being investigated. The disease itself can prevent the detection and attacks from the immune system. Although T cells have been shown to interact with melanoma cells.

The more I learn about disease and their effects on the immune system. The more I am fascinated with how our body really works. I always knew that the diseases we have been discussing were harmful, but the way that they can either trick or hide from our natural immune system is fascinating although terrifying. The adaptations that they can do to become more harmful at such a quick rate is a big investigation that is making leaps and bounds each day.