This war started before you were born and it will continue until you die. Although it's a war that always ends in defeat, there's a lot you can do to markedly postpone that ultimate defeat and to maintain a state of vibrant health into advanced old age.

These enemies of your immune system include well over 400 toxins ingested from food you eat, water you drink, and air you breathe, along with a multitude of bacteria, viruses, and mutated cancer cells. Increasingly, it has to deal with particularly aggressive bacteria that have developed resistance to most, if not all, antibiotics.

It is also being challenged by a host of new viruses, including HIV, SARS, West Nile, ever-changing strains of influenza that now bear threat of a world-wide pandemic. Never in history of our species has it been more important to have a very strong, well-functioning immune system.

A recent longitudinal study, however, has shown that an average person's immune system declines at a rate of approximately 3% per year! The subjects in this 12-year study were all young adults and were apparently healthy when study began.

When your immune system is functioning fully, it's very much like a very powerful army. It is composed of several highly specialized types of cells, much as an army is made up of many different specialty groups.

Just as supply lines are of crucial importance for an army to wage an effective and successful campaign, cells of your immune system must similarly receive a constant infusion of all crucially-important nutrients that they need. As is well known in art of war, when these supply lines break down, war is lost.

Another element that is of equally crucial importance--both to an effective fighting army and to your immune system--is constant and effective communication. If this breaks down, war also cannot be won. One of most common objectives in warfare is to destroy "command and control" of enemy.

Anxiety disorders are primarily on overwhelming fear. Everyone experiences tingle of fear and anxiety, especially when encountering an anxiety provoking experience like public speaking or a first date. However, difference of an anxiety disorder is difference between an occasional feeling of apprehension and a constant and dominating force in your life. If anxiety is all consuming, it is a disorder and you need to take steps to correct it.

One of most familiar and studied forms of anxiety disorder is panic attack. The patient usually feels his or her heart race and also pain or pressure in chest. Generalized anxiety disorder is another of more commonly diagnosed forms. It manifests as constant worry that is beyond normal bounds. Other symptoms include a lengthy event lasting six months or longer, muscle tension, difficulty staying focused on a subject, trouble sleeping, and feeling continuously irritated. Panic attacks don't usually result from general anxiety disorder, but it can still make life difficult. That type of worry is exhausting, takes away interest in one's life, and can cause mood swings. Some other anxiety disorders include social anxiety, obsessive compulsive behavior, various phobias, and post- traumatic stress syndrome.