Inflammation: The Often Unknown Factor

A quick list of the usual causes will appear if one were to scan the obituaries stating cause such as stroke, cancer, heart disease, and complications that arose from Alzheimer’s disease or diabetes. What you won’t see there is chronic inflammation, kind of seems like it could be harmless to those who don’t know about it, but that’s far from the truth as it is a deep body response that medical researchers are starting to recognize as THE underlying reason the body develops so many of these often deadly conditions.

Most major diseases seem to have a chronic inflammatory component. What’s alarming is that arthritis, allergies and other conditions are in an upswing, suggesting that chronic inflammation is on the rise and can also give rise to serious disease as well. Establishments are working hard to gain better understanding on chronic inflammation, creating a growing body of evidence to cast light on the process to help point towards ways to fight it.

You may be familiar with acute inflammation which is that heat, swelling, and redness that might be seen in a gum infection or a hammer to the thumb injury. Reactions like these are triggered by the flow of white blood cells summoned there by the body to surround and protect the wound. Acute inflammation can also happen internally with infection such as pneumonia when white blood cells aim at bacteria in the bloodstream and tissues. Both of those cases have heat and swelling due to acute inflammation and are a part of the body’s defensive battle against invaders that can cause infection, to help speed healing.

Chronic inflammation is another process that is a bit different, which happens when white blood cells produced by the body to fight off infection simply don’t retreat, rather they continue on to attack healthy organs and tissues. Basically the body’s defenses bombard ourselves with friendly fire, which really is not so friendly. When chronic inflammation runs high that causes problems wherever the body may be genetically weakest such as: if it is the joints arthritis develops, brain gives rise to Alzheimer’s disease, artery leads to heart disease, and so on; chronic inflammation drives all of this and more. In most cases chronic inflammation can be stopped, giving one a better chance of avoiding most of the common causes of early death.

Chronic Inflammation has impacts on many conditions such as heart disease among others, when LDL cholesterol begins to build in blood vessels the immune system reacts by deploying macrophages; if suffering from chronic inflammation the body however will over react and send more white blood cells than necessary, these hyperactive cells attempt to suck up the cholesterol and digest them in their acidic belly. Soon those same white blood cells become loaded with fat and they simply die off leaving fatty debris but not before sending out distress signals cytokine messenger proteins that call in more microphages, causing this process to happen continuously quietly over years helping to form plaque that begins to line arterial walls. Blood vessels go from soft and pliable to overloaded with fatty substances leading to atherosclerosis, at which point blood clots protruding from cracks in plaque can stop blood flow causing stroke or heart attack. Debris from plaque adhesions can break free to lodge elsewhere yet again clogging blood flow. This is what makes chronic inflammation silent and deadly, it builds up quietly and slowly over time, one can’t feel it happening; and it doesn’t just hurt the heart it impacts the brain contributing to depression and cognitive decline; joints contributing to rheumatoid arthritis; and the belly contributing to visceral fat; and so forth.

Scientists worldwide are working on trying to find out why this immune response is becoming more and more common. Findings thus far suggests modern lifestyles and diet are overwhelming the primordial immune system.  Advent of vaccines and antibiotics has us outliving many infections that once killed us, living longer created more opportunity for genetics, bad habits, and age to affect arteries and organs. The body interprets these signals as distress and sends in the white blood cells calvary setting in motion cascading chemical reaction that can destroy healthy cells and tissue.

A person consuming a diet high in fried and processed foods can become obese, the visceral fat stockpile around the organs start producing chemicals that prompt the immune system to react. Chances are if you can’t see your feet and love those sugary soda pop drinks while chomping down on grease stained burger and fries you’re more than likely to have chronic inflammation wreaking havoc on your body right this very moment.

Some doctors recommend fighting inflammation with statins, others recommend using over the counter drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen, with statins reducing inflammation and markers for risk of stroke and heart attack.

Most studies show that losing weight is the best way to decrease inflammation; dropping 3% of body weight showed a 10% reduction in MCP-1 proteins that are associated with inflammation. Changing diet to remove the bad fats and increase good fats rich in omega 3 and 9 can help to inhibit inflammatory signals. Avoiding added sugars, sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup is another big step in the battle against inflammation, studies show that consuming 20 ounces of sweetened beverages a day for 3 weeks causes CRP levels to increase by up to 109%. Choosing fresh fruit for a sweet fix increases antioxidants and polyphenols that help to reduce inflammation.

This tip is more for the men: don’t forget to brush your teeth, studies show that there is a link between gum disease, arthritis, heart problems, and here it is dreaded erectile dysfunction. Chances are if your gums bleed when you floss you’ve probably got inflammation there too. Good oral hygiene can kill bacteria that causes gum inflammation, plus nice pearly whites are just more pleasing to see.