Immunoglobulin (also called Immune Globulin, IVIg, IgG, Ig or Gamma Globulin) is a medicine that contains antibodies, like the ones the body makes naturally to identify germs and defend it against infection. These antibodies are taken from the blood of thousands of healthy blood donors, shipped to a pharmaceutical plant, purified and combined into a fluid to make each dose of IgG.
When is it necessary?
The immune system is responsible for defending the body from harmful germs, which could make a person sick. This defense system is extremely complex, with many different parts.
One important part of the immune system is a tiny protein called an antibody. The immune system makes antibodies that travel through the blood stream looking for germs. When an antibody finds a germ, it creates a chemical reaction that lets the rest of the immune system know that a harmful intruder is in the body. The body then activates its defenses to destroy the germ.
IgG often is used to treat people suffering from immune-related medical disorders. In people with these types of illnesses, it is believed that IgG may replace missing antibodies or boost existing immune defenses. Other immune-related disorders occur when a person’s antibodies mistake normal, healthy parts of the body for harmful germs, causing the body to attack and damage itself. IgG is thought to block these “bad” antibodies.
