Lymphatic circulation-2

             Any stagnant water is unhealthy and so imagine cells surrounded by stagnant fluids around them. A city in a country can be clean only if surroundings of each house is kept clean. This means there should be and efficient and regular means of garbage disposal system in operation.

        Similarly a body can be clean  and healthy only if the fluid surrounding each cell are kept clean by regular garbage disposal system. If cells dump waste every second but if the waste are not cleared , your interstitial fluid will look like the pictures shown on the right.

     The lymphatic system helps maintain fluid balance in the tissues. It also helps in clearance of proteins and large particles which are too large to be absorbed into the blood capillaries, but can be carried through the lymphatics. Removal of proteins from the intercellular spaces is so important, that if were not done, we would die within about twenty-four hours.

    Lymphatic fluid is derived from intercellular fluid that flows into the lymphatics. About two-thirds of lymph is normally derived from the liver and intestines. Small lymph capillaries originate in the tissue and carry fluid away from the tissues. These lymph capillaries, which are in almost all tissues of the body, except the bones, superficial skin, deeper portion of peripheral nerves, the central nervous system, endomysium of muscles. But even these are able to drain through minute prelymphatic channels, whose fluid then flows into the lymphatic vessels. The brain is unique in that the prelymphatic channels drain into the cerebrospinal fluid and from there directly into the venous system.

    If the lymphatic system becomes congested, blocked, damaged or severed, fluids can build up in the connective tissue leading to edema. After a time, cell pathology may begin. If there is damage in the connective tissue due to burns, chronic inflammation, ulceration, or other factors, the lymph system transports damaged cells, inflammatory products and toxins away from the area. The more quickly this can happen, the faster recovery will be.

 The liver is very permeable to fluids and these flow freely into the liver’s lymphatic system. The liver is an expanding and contracting reservoir of blood, lymph and bile. If circulation is weak, these fluids will have a tendency to congest the liver.

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