The lymphatic system

Blood plasma flows from the arterial capillaries into the space between the cells (interstitial space) and provides the tissues with nutrients, oxygen, and hormones. Around 90 percent of the plasma is then absorbed by the venous capillaries. The remaining ten percent is “interstitial fluid,” which, together with protein, metabolic waste products, inflammatory breakdown products, pathogens, white blood cells, and even some red blood cells, forms the lymph-obligatory-load (LOL). In the abdomen, digested fats are added to the LOL. 

The LOL is absorbed by the lymphatic capillaries, and it is at this point that we begin to call it “lymph.” Lymph is carried to the lymphatic and thoracic ducts via pre-collector and collector vessels. The lymphatic and thoracic ducts empty into the venous system at the venous between the superior vena cava and the heart. There they pass the lymph on to the blood circulatory system. A healthy adult body transports about two liters of lymph to the heart each day.

Lymph is transported through the body by a variety of different mechanisms. The collectors and lymph ducts have muscular wall segments and valves. The sections between the two valves are called “lymphangions.” Angions work like tiny hearts, rhythmically contracting and relaxing (six to ten times per minute) and pumping the lymph toward the heart. This pumping mechanism is supported by the movements of our muscles when we move, our pulse, and our breathing, which creates a pressure vacuum in the thorax, as well as by the pulsations of the neighboring arteries and movements of the intestines. 

Along the way, lymph passes through numerous “lymph nodes,” which contain lymph tissue and a variety of cells (lymphocytes, B and T cells, macrophages, etc.) that destroy “our body’´s enemies” or build antibodies against them. Since lymph flows very slowly, there is a lot of time for cleaning the lymph. The lymph nodes are the most important organs of our immune defense system, as they are where most defense processes take place.

Our lymphatic system is divided into four quadrants separated by “watersheds”. The lymph from the upper right quadrant flows via the right lymphatic duct behind the right clavicle (collar-bone) and into the blood circulatory system. The lymph from the other three quadrants flows back into the blood via the thoracic duct, which is situated behind the left clavicle. Here, the fat-enriched lymph originating from digestion in the small intestine (chyle) also enters the blood stream, through which it will then supply the entire body.