what is my lymphatic system?
Your lymphatic system is a collection of organs and vessels that play a key role in the following functions:
maintenance of fluid in our tissues
Have you ever wondered where swelling (edema) in our skin or body parts comes from? Blood is continuously circulating around our body to provide nourishment for every cell in the body. As a result of that blood circulating, water leaves our blood vessels and ends up in the spaces between our cells (interstitium) under the skin. If we didn’t have a vast network of lymphatic vessels to remove this water, we would constantly have edema. . Edema is the medical term to describe the build up of fluid (swelling). Unlike our cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system does not have a pump to move this fluid so our lymphatic system needs some help in the form of movement, exercise and MLD.
helps us to absorb fats and fat soluble vitamins in the digestive tract
We have a collection of lymph vessels in our digestive tract that are responsible for absorbing large lipid (fat) molecules and with those molecules are the fat soluble vitamins that are essential for human health such as vitamin A, D, E and K.
plays a crucial role in our immune response
Circulating in our lymphatic vessels is lymphatic fluid that contains the water collected from the interstitium and our army of immune fighting cells. Some of these cells are also found in the many lymphatic organs such as our thymus gland, spleen and lymph nodes.
Each of these functions plays a huge role in the wellness and heath of the human body and for many years, it has not received the level of study it so rightfully deserves. Over the past several decades, the awareness around the importance of the lymphatic system has increased creating a surge in research and studies on its role and function in health and disease.
Many people are looking into the variety of health benefits associated with a healthy, functional lymphatic system.
History around the study of the Lymphatic System
Up until the mid 20th Century, the lymphatic system was considered to be a vital part of the cardiovascular system, performing the essential role of returning fluid from the body’s tissues and organs back to the heart, alongside the venous system. In the later part of the 20th century, more research revealed that certain organs of the body, particularly the lymph nodes, performed a crucial role in defending the body from harmful pathogens, removing of foreign particles, including dead and malignant cells.
Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) first described the lymphatic vessel as “white blood” and coined the word “chyle”. Chyle is a white milky fluid that contains fats and fat-soluble vitamins following the absorption of fats in the digestive tract.
Jean Pecquet (1622-1674), a French scientist, was famous for his discovery of the lacteals, major lymph collectors responsible for the absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the small intestine, and that the thoracic duct, the largest lymph vessel in the body, leads into the left subclavian vein. Olaus Rudbeck (1630-1702), a Swedish scientist, also known for his pioneering work in the study of the lymphatic system, discovered the pathway of lymph fluid leading from the tissues, into the lymph vessels then back to the thoracic duct into the cardiovascular system.
During the past decade, research into the development, structure and function of the lymphatic system has accelerated which provides us with a more thorough understanding of the role the lymphatics has in health and disease as well as the formation of the lymphatic system in embryo and the growth of the lymphatics in an adult.