Hmm, Sick? September 11, 2006 05:46:15 PM
Well this certainly doesnt happen very often, but I seem to be sick! I thought I had an immune system of steel, but aparently I was dreadfully wrong. In just one day I developed the full set of symptoms. Sore throat, runny nose, slight caugh. Khine was down this past weekend, and she was fine when she got here, and is already back in UVA and is still showing no signs of sickness, well thats good. Luckily I didnt catch this thing till the day she had to go home, wish I knew how I got it though.
So I got to thinking though, with our very different backgrounds, we must have completely different immune systems. I mean this bug i have right now should be like perfect proof, cause we were together all weekend. So like something that would make me sick might not effect her, and vise versa, if she catches something, I could already be imune to it. Now dont take this the wrong way, I dont want kids now or any time soon, but from a biological standpoint, if offspring were conceived between us, given our two completely different geographic upbringings, then they should have a new and potentially 200% more efficient level of immunity.
Now I dont know that much about genetics or which genes in the immune system are recessive or carry over from one generation to the next, but the potential is deffinetely a fact. So its these types of truths that always make me wonder why some people are still so against inter-racial couples. Stupid people, cant those rednecks see that inter-racial marriages can result in a higher level of human immuno sophistication with an increased T-cell identification rate resulting in a reduced percentage of biotic infections due to parasites? Idiots, its so simple! :-/ I mean, If my parents weren't both germans (aside from the fact that I wouldnt be here right now), I could be healthy right now!
Think about it!
User:
Anonymous
COMMENT: Hope you're feeling even better now, Danny. Even if you're not, hope you feel better knowing you look so cute blowing your nose like you do =P I know! I'm weird..lol
Hmm..about your theory..sure, genes do play a huge role but it's not everything. Some genes do give us this predisposition to illnesses like how some people with certain genes have weaker immune system and are prone to sickness. But I believe that the environment plays a bigger role. If you go to a third-world country and live like how the natives do down there for some years, I can bet my bottom dollar that your immune system would be toughened up by the end. Of course, you'll be falling sick a lot at first =) It's more of the exposure you get to viruses and bacteria and how your immune system adapts to the more infectious environment than your genes being responsible to fight things off.
So kids cannot inherit the 'tougher' immune system cuz they have to get exposed to the bad guys before their bodies will produce the fighters. But they can inherit defects in genes like that responsible for anaemia. That said, yes, I do have a stronger immune system than most people here cuz I spent my childhood in Burma. After staying in SG for a decade though, I noticed my resistance to sickness decreasing, but still higher =)