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The lymphatic system is a complex network of thin vessels,
valves, ducts, nodes, and organs. It helps to protect and maintain
the fluid environment of the body by producing, filtering, and
conveying lymph and by producing various blood cells.
Lymph nodes play an important part in the body’s defense against
infection. The most common cause of swollen lymph nodes is
infection, which might occur even if the infection is trivial or
not. Afferent lymph vessels bring unfiltered fluids into the lymph
node to be filtered while efferent vessels carry clean fluids away
from the lymph node and to the cardiovascular system where it helps
form the plasma in the blood.
Overall, lymph nodes work like a biological filtering system. When
the body is invaded by foreign organisms, the painful swelling
sometimes felt in the neck, armpits, groin, or tonsils comes from
the microorganisms being trapped inside collections of lymph cells
or nodes. Eventually, these organisms are destroyed and eliminated
by cells that line the walls of the lymph nodes and the swelling
and pain subside.
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