What Actually Happens When You Are Sick? 

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One thing I learned. The immune system is going to do everything to stop a disease or illness. Even if it means killing you.

You briefly discussed how being a smoker compromises your immune system, making getting sick harder on the body. Would you consider doing a video showing what smoking does to the whole body on the macro and micro level?

The subject is so interesting and always makes me want to cry, I had numerous discussions with my wife's vaccine hesitancy, especially when it came to our children. It contributed to our divorce. Thank you for creating such a informative video that portrays such a serious subject in a positive light. My compassion goes out to all of us that have suffered from disease that could have been prevented from vaccines.

Videos like this have made me much kinder to myself. Realising just how much work my body puts into staying alive and how mind-bogglingly complex it all is has given me a much deeper apprecition for a body that I always resented for being chronically ill and "broken". Now I feel like it's miraculous I'm here at all! I also really appreciate the reminder that activating your immune system requires a huge amount of energy. I've been feeling really tired and down and have zero motivation for anything since I suffered some significant burns last week. I just keep having to remind myself that it's perfectly normal and healthy to not feel up to anything while my body is busy taking care of me.

It’s insane the number of diseases which aren’t caused by a virus/bacteria - but your body turning against you for one reason or another. The body is scary whatever it’s targeting

A message to future generations: Please keep this channel and others like it alive. They are the champions of free education. 😇

I was procrastinating with this instead of studying for an immunology exam. This basically summarised all the subjects needed. Thanks for making it enjoyable

Kurzgesagt: "Your immune system is a jerk" Me: "Praise. Someone gets it" 🤣

This hits home in a big way. I have a rare cancer that we treated with chemotherapy for 17 months with good results. My doctor and I decided to try immunotherapy. So six months into that, my blood sugar suddenly goes ballistic....635. Next thing I know, I'm in the ER and they are bringing my glucose level down in a safe manner. Two days in the hospital and they tell me that my amped-up immune system attacked my pancreas. So now, I have Type 1 diabetes and am insulin dependent.....and still have the cancer. But it's just another obstacle to overcome.

Mom had a very strong immune system (barely got really sick) and was only sick for 2 days at most when she did get sick. She developed an autoimmune disease a few years back and her immune system destroyed almost every organ systematically. The body is terrifying.

As a sick person watching this video i can relate to this 😪 Edit: I'm all better now thanks immune system ☺️

Watching this while my immune system is spooling up in response to ..... something, is strangely satisfying. I don't yet know if it's allergies (yay >.

When I was 12 years old I contracted glandular fever (ie, the epstein-barr virus) and since then my body has never been the same. It completely destroyed my life. I'm now in my 20s and suffer from multiple autoimmune disorders, unable to work, have chronic pain, etc. So... yeah. Amazing what one small, pesky virus can do and how devastating the immune system can be when it turns on you.

Just few days ago, I had a CT scan after having a long Covid disease. I didn't know how to read the results of the CT scan, but the doctor explained me that although I had not suffered any serious damage, my lungs still had some "scars". This was quite shocking to me, the idea that a "simple" flu could cause me permanent injuries had never even crossed my mind

i never tire of watching this channel. good explainations in a concise manner and fairly good accuracy. also the animations and music are just phenominal and give me a good chuckle now and then. they've got me started reasearching other topics i normally wouldn't just because they had a video on said subject.

It would be fantastic if you do a part 2 video about the immune system in the context of autoimmune disorders to explain how the body attacks itself and what happens in these situations.

The Immune book was the most interesting book about biology I've ever read

I wish we could get to the point where we’re allowed to listen to our bodies telling us to slow down and rest when we’re fighting off and infection, rather than pushing through because we must be productive at all costs.

I loved this, the animation was hilarious and totally on point, thanks so much!

These animations are amazing, thanks to everyone who works hard to make these videos possible.

Another thing to consider when it comes to boosting your immune system: _sleep more_ . Sleep deprivation induces a state of immunodeficiency because your body restocks its circulating immune cells while you sleep.

I hope you guys do a video of the Immune system going wrong. As someone with Type 1 Diabetes and Vitiligo, both caused by a hyper-active immune system response, it would be great to see you guys show the light on this subject

This literally redefines the way of learning it’s beyond comprehension. It makes learning an actual enticement.🎉🎉😊

We’re so lucky to have fun and interesting recourses like this that are such good quality! Each video really is like a piece of art ❤

I always found it interesting that fevers or colds can be a ton of different illnesses, you just don't know which since all the symptoms you have are those of your immune system successfully defeating it

Kurzgesagt has actually done many immune system videos in the past, but it is so committed to make them even better each time. Still, I do kinda miss the old artstyle and colored circles though.

I love kurzgesagt, always trying to looking for the best route, thinking the most people have good intentions.

u guys always make me cry. THE BEST. ICONIC! LEGENDARY. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING 😭😭😭😭😭💜💜💜💜💜

Infectious Diseases doc here - this was a joy to watch. Loved the Neutrophil analogy cus I refer to them as "Toddlers hopped up on sugar, running around with shotguns". Please keep up the fantastic, always informative work!

I literally just got to this part in the Immune Book. It’s really great companion to the video and I highly suggest you read it if you have it. It’s broken in sections that takes like 5 minutes tops. For example, I learned that Measles attacks your immune memory cells so you can actually LOSE your immunity to certain diseases. Which is why it’s so important that we vaccinate against it and eradicate it. I hope they do a video on that one day. EDIT: Apparently measles was covered 8 years ago!

It so hard to find a detailed explanation in regards to medical health and there are some, but they explained it more generally not like this. You fam deserved a sub and a like.

It would be very interesting to hae a video on what to do about your immune system when you have an autoimmune disease. There is a lot of research being done about these various ailments, but there isn't much in the way of actually effective, long-term treatments, let alone cures. And the impact of having an autoimmune disease on contracting and recovering from other kinds of diseases.

I'd love to see a video on how stress/anxiety affects the immune system and can cause or aggravate certain conditions

I've just read your book 'immune' and honestly there isn't single book out there in the market where you can find such simple elaboration of such complex immune system I really enjoyed it.

imagine watching this video with all the facts simplified and still not believing how your body works.

Riding the Long COVID train after a mild infection, and now every little thing my body and brain can do makes me happy and grateful. And animated science and history videos have been vital for rehabbing my short-term and working memory. 😊

As someone that unfortunately has an autoimmune disease I’d love to see you guys do a video about that topic if you haven’t already. You always do such great videos sharing information and educating others.

I truly love and respect the team behind this youtube channel. Your "bacteriophage therapy" video had a profound impact on my life inspiring me and literally changing my life in the process. I am currently in my second year of pursuing a doctorate degree, focusing on chemical genomics research all started with a youtube video.

I am looking forward to every released video ❤❤❤ Thank you for this! As always!

Love this channel informative and entertaining at the same time 🥰

This video hits home for me. 2 years ago my Mom passed due to COVID. It caught us all by surprise. She was the one who rarely ever got sick. She would be the one who took care of my siblings and I (especially me) whenever we were sick. Sadly, her immune system was weak against covid. She went to the hospital a day before she was scheduled to get her vaccine. Fuck covid

Thanks for such great material presented in a fun and comprehensible way!

Many thanks for the helpful information you've provided.

That part about your body using amino acids from your muscles to help rebuild the immune system because you’re not eating makes so much sense now because I always wondered why my muscles ached when sick

The Immune book was the most interesting book about biology I've ever read. The perfect combination between facts and entertaining metaphors made it so fun to read. And I actually learned a lot too. I wish more books were written in a fun way like that! Great job to y'all who have been working on these videos and the book, I was a little curious about microbiology to begin with, but now I'm totally fascinated by it, thanks to the book especially :)

perfect video for me to watch while i'm sick

For the past 2 days,I've been throwing up violently every 30 minutes and almost felt like passing out every second.But I took my medicine and im feeling much better

During hospital visits, I was repeatedly asked two questions: 1) am I a smoker? 2) do I have Type 2 Diabetes? That was really what every nurse, doctor was concerned about. These things change the nature of the treatment, care and the expected outcomes. Please do a video on what smoking and diabetes do to the body.

Your Immune book seriously helped me pass Microbiology and Pathology/Pharmacology in nursing school. The Immune system is seriously a complex system, and you made it easier to understand.

while in the middle of the video, I suddenly realized how privileged I am to gain this knowledge. Thank you kurzgesagt

I wonder what all happened in my body on micro level when i was down by Covid and 80% of my lungs were affected. Worst 2.5 months of my life, but glad to be alive 😇

The immune system is like our mother, always there to protect us but it's terrifying when enraged

I'd love to see a video on how psychedelics and other psychoactive compounds are being used to treat things like depression, anxiety, PTSD, drug addiction etc :)

Really well explained with the “sick = wartime economy. Resources goes to making weapons so you must lie still so as to make sure the energy isn’t used anywhere else”.

love your videos! always masterpieces 🔥

About a year ago I bought your book about the immune system and I found it really fascinating. I wondered if you would ever make a video about it since in my opinion it's something everyone should know about. I love the way you explained it, it makes it easy to understand and truly entertaining. Your channel is really great, I've learned a lot from you and I'm always looking forward to the next video. Keep going just like this 💪

Yea another immune system video! I have to thank you guys so much. You guys are the reason I now have a love for the immune system and a dream of pursing it as a job in the future. Thank you guys so so much

Bro your voice just makes the content so addicting its like smoking once you try you cant stop watching

POV: you’re watching this while you’re sick

Honestly, the biology-related episodes of Kurzgesagt are my favorites, especially when they specifically center around Microbiology and Cytology- Immune System videos, ones about specific bacteria or virus and what they do, so on and so forth.

I'm living this now. I got pneumonia just over a year ago and was hospitalised. By the time they diagnosed it and got antibiotics in me, it had spread across half of my left lung. Before that I was relatively healthy, but ever since - even over a year later - I now struggle to breathe sometimes and any little cold makes it hard to get enough oxygen. I'm only in my late 20s but I'll probably have weakened lungs for the rest of my life now, all because I picked up a bug from the electrician who came to repair the light switch.

This is probably the most valuable information from this channel

explained so well it feels like a natural puzzle fitting in my understanding

I was literally just doing research on vaccines for an essay and the last vaccine video's source list saved my life. Thank you so much. I'll be sure to check out the Immune book some time.

I was hoping you'd talk about big lack of some vitamins, and how we often make ourselves vulnerable (by abusing some substances, lack of sleep)

Have to appreciate a very detailed animation like this. GoodWork!

I love how the background music has the leitmotif of the Vaccines risk video, as a subtle reference to the previous topic

I find these videos so comforting, and not just because of the video's theme, and gentle voice. A year ago I decided to take another year of biology, and I have learned lots. It's videos like these that prove to me, that I have learned something new, and it is that, that is comforting.

Awesome! Thanks for the quality education!

This was very informative. I think I need to take more care to avoid minor sickenesses like colds and diarrhea.

"What doesn't kill you makes you smaller" - Mario Mario, 1985

3:46 I’d never thought that Kurzgesagt would do a Better Call Saul reference

Thank you for such an educational video!

I currently have throat pain when swallowing, as well as unexplained tiredness. (As of currently, the tiredness is only sometimes.) So I decided to watch this again.

Some already suggested a deep dive on smoking's effect on the immune system. I think that is a great idea, but I also really hope for a video on how obesity and poor sleep also depress immune function. Thanks!

As a student studying the immune system right now, this is so unbelievably intuitive and helpful!

I was actually touched by learning how my good cells are defending my body. Damn! We should do our best to help them.

Currently on the tail-end of a flu-like illness followed by a cold, miraculous that the symptoms dissipated within like 2 days

2:37 No, that is alphabet soup, you can't convince me otherwise.

This channel taught me more than school or college ever will

I started watching this channel since when I was 7 love it keep it up

This is ocean of knowledge. I already knew many things from your videos. 3 new things I learn. 1. How permanent scaring happen. 2. Why we can't eat while getting sick. 3. Why we get slim after falling sick.

I repeat it again: I would love a videogame with the Kurzgesagt art in it about a real time strategic fight of immune cells vs virus/bacteria/prions/fungi/parasites/etc. Imagine a field with thousands of immune cells vs hundreds of thousands of invaders 🦠

Recently I got really sick, and I was so bummed cuz I wasn’t able to do yoga at the same level for weeks. It feels like your body isn’t your own or something. I’m so glad I’m back to normal now though

5:56 Influenza Virus plushie in the Kurz store WHEN?

God I wish my lectures on medical faculty were like this... I would finish it in 4 years instead of 8. Literally perfection!

Understanding how my body works as an individual entity makes me on one hand partially scared (specially that I suffer autoimmune sickness) but also for some reason I feel really warm and hugged from inside. I'm practically a guest in my body.

Thanks for 'Immune' one of the best books I've read and I have recommended it to anyone I recommend books to. EXCELLENT

certain nurses have this saying: what doesent kill you makes you stronger, or cripples you for life

Being a super responder isn’t necessarily a good thing. No disease ever managed to make my mom sick before cancer, but when her own cells turned against her it wound up becoming a curse. She developed an immunity to all the medication she was given over time, and once that happened there was nothing anyone could do. She was always like that, no disease never got to her and even Benadryl stopped working after a couple of uses. It used to be such a good thing for her… But it wasn’t in the end.

I got to experience a virus that made me weaker when I was 20. This is a long story that took/takes place over 6 years so far. I got sick while on vacation in Florida and I did something you should never do. I took medicine while drinking some beers(also yes it was underage drinking I know). Sickness seams to go away mostly but then on the drive back home I was getting really dizzy in the car but that got better. Then when I went back to work I was having trouble standing for more than 5 min before getting dizzy. I went to the doctor the next day because it had then been 3 days of dizziness they did the normal thing and weighed me and all that. I weighed in at 149 lbs which was low from my normal, but still low for a 5'11" guy, 160 at the time. They gave me a shot, told me to go to the ER if it got worse, and sent me on my way. 3 days later I got a friend to bring me to the ER because I was getting really dizzy even when sitting down and laying down made it worse, I got the first of many migraines, and my hands had started to shake a little bit. Got there and they weighed me in at 141 lbs. Which I didn't believe and I showed them the paper work from the doctor of the tests they did that I brought along just in case it would help. That plus the dizziness got me scheduled for a CT scan. Now the radiologist aren't supposed to tell you anything really and she didn't but the look on her face when she saw the scan and how she just left the room was quite worrying. I get put into a room so I can get an MRI in the morning after a second CT scan. All the doctor says and shows me is that there is a weird spot in my brain around the base of the skull about the size of a thumb. That night I get weighed again and weigh in at 138 lbs. That made the nurse rush out and get the doctor to show him. They then told me they were going to weigh me a couple more times throughout the next day. Got weighed first thing in the morning and weighed in at 131 lbs. Got an MRI and got brought back to my room. Learned I couldn't walk without holding onto something anymore and my hands shook enough that I couldn't hold the fork for lunch. The migraines blurred my vision more than it already is(I wear glasses). They felt like someone was running knives over my head branching from the back of my head forward. Doctor came in and weighed me again after a second MRI. I was down to 128 lbs. They also got a neurologist to come in he then took all the data to a team 3 neurologists(that turned to 9 later). He told me not to worry because from what he could see it was just some minor inflammation with no signs of getting worse over the couple of scans they did. Blood work was done as well and that showed that there was no virus present anymore so we never found out what I got exactly. The next day I get weighed in the morning again and weighed in at 124 lbs. Did another MRI and then the neurologist came in with what was basically a drawn and printed out powerpoint presentation and he got one of the other neurologists on a video call. He went through explaining a lot of what they found and how the only case they found similar to mine was some lady in 1993. He told me what happened to me was about a 1 in 300million chance and in part I was lucky because it could've been much worse. The virus had gotten past the blood brain barrier which was probably weakened by the alcohol and medicine combo. That caused a slight over reaction in my immune system which led it to keep fighting even after the virus was gone. He told be the inflammation would go down in a couple of weeks or months but the nerves where permanently damaged. Good thing was that I was young so my brain would eventually learn to use other pathways to do the same jobs. I asked him how long he thought that would take and he told me that if I agreed to do some physical therapy then it would probably take about 8 years to "heal". If I was younger the damage done probably wouldn't have affected me for that long but because my brain was almost done developing it needed more time. If I was older there would have probably been no hope for going back to normal. When I got weighed in the afternoon I was still 124 lbs. I had lost basically all my fat and about 40% of my muscle mass. The doctor then told me that if I had lost even 1 more pound he was going to put me in the ICU but then he gave me the option to go home as long as I would come back if I felt anything getting worse. I also had to come in for tests and MRIs the next week and every 2 weeks after that for a couple of months. They gave me a couple of medications and even wrote on a note attached to the prescriptions that i should use protein powder to help gain my weight back. I then started 6 months of physical therapy. The dizziness became persistent while I was in the hospital and got worse over time. The physical therapy made it better but for about a year straight I was always dizzy. Couldn't even watch TV without feeling like I needed to puke. Looking over at something to quickly made it feel like I did a flip. I couldn't write easily but I kept practicing and part of that was the muscles in my hands being so weak that holding things became painful after a little while. After a year I was doing a lot better. The migraines became very rare and I could walk around for a couple of hours before feeling to light headed. Now 6.5 years later I'm basically back to normal. Sometimes my sense of balance just "turns off" so I can't feel if I'm standing upright or not. It is usually followed by a sense of falling when it comes back. My hand shaking and all that was getting rarer but recently came back for another extended round of annoyance. So every once in while I drop things and typing this out I would hit the same letter like 3 extra times (good thing for auto-correct). At the rate it's going idk if I will ever get back to normal but it is a lot better than what it was. Though I don't have that weight problem anymore as I am now around 200 lbs and am physically stronger than I've ever been but even with that sometimes I walk like a drunk man and can't do any kind of task requiring fine motor control efficiently.

This adds up. I’m a type 2 diabetic but I was super fit and ate healthy.. until I got Covid 19…. After I recovered things just spiraled. Now it makes sense.

The animation is god tier but the music and sound effects are criminally underrated. Massive appreciation to all the team effort.

How to instantly lose confidence in humanity: Sort comments by “new”

The line used to describe neutrophil cells: "Imagining chimps with machine guns", was also used to describe them in the Immune Book by Philipp Dettmer! I recognized the line the second it was heard and got so happy. Your team is absolutely incredible, keep up the amazing work!

I love this channel so much i swear

Thanks for the video!

Thank you for this! I'm a medical lab technician major and I'm taking immunology right now. This was a helpful visualization of what we're learning :)

forever grateful for my mom for explaining this to me since i was very young while not sugarcoating it or give me books that explains this stuffs. she is also a science teacher. God bless her