Your body doesn’t just have one circulatory system, it has two! In addition to the blood circulatory system, there’s the lymphatic system. Instead of blood, this system circulates lymph, a clear fluid similar to plasma in composition. . At the level of your capillary beds, some plasma from the blood seeps out and becomes interstitial fluid. Some of this fluid is collected by lymphatic vessels, where it is now called lymph, and begins its journey through the lymphatic system. . About 600 lymph nodes are connected along these lymphatic vessels. These nodes act as the filter cartridges of the lymphatic system. As lymph circulates, it passes through lymph nodes in your neck, armpits, chest, and other areas. These tiny, bean-shaped nodes are packed with white blood cells, which will trap and remove harmful particles like bacteria, viruses, debris, etc. from your lymph. . Eventually, the lymphatic circulation reconnects with the blood circulation (at the subclavian veins), allowing the filtered lymph rejoins the bloodstream. . By the way, when your body detects a threat such as an infection, the immune cells in your lymph nodes start multiplying to better fight off the infection. This increased activity causes the nodes to swell. That’s why, for example, when you have a sore throat, the lymph nodes in your neck may feel tender and lumpy. . For this video I used a Leica ZOOM 200 stereoscope and an Olympus BX41 microscope at up to 1000x magnification.
#microscopy #microscope #histology #lymphnodes #lymph #immunity #lymphaticsystem #drbioforever