Did you ever wonder why some obese people, after decades of being badgered by their families and physicians to lose weight, out-live all of them and are healthy for decades? Or how someone of normal weight falls over dead in his fifties from a massive heart attack the week after his check-up which included a perfect cholesterol?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This apparent injustice is not the devil\u2019s work but something else associated with Satan\u2014fire, or rather inflammation. Clues about chronic smoldering inflammation as a basis of disease began to appear some years ago when it was discovered there was a connection between seemingly unrelated illnesses related to premature aging. The list included heart disease, diabetes, the full spectrum of autoimmune diseases, and even dementia, schizophrenia, and Down\u2019s syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blood tests for chronic inflammation, most commonly the sedimentation rate (\u201csed rate\u201d), high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (\u201chsCRP\u201d), and ferritin, had been available for decades, but because of these associated diseases, began to appear on routine annual physical examinations or get requested by patients themselves. When confronted with abnormal results, some doctors suggested aspirin, others curcumin, still others didn\u2019t exactly know what to do with the test result and referred patients to various specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your body mounting what\u2019s called an acute inflammatory response is a good thing\u2026when you need it. And you need it to ward off any invader, whether it\u2019s strep bacteria on your tonsils or a splinter in your thumb. During an acute response, a truly elegant radar system triggers the release of key chemicals just when and where they\u2019re needed. The chemicals signal your blood to send troops of white blood cells to kill bacteria plus enzymes to clean up the battlefield. When you had that splinter, your thumb became swollen and red. That was an acute inflammatory immune response, and it\u2019s a beautiful thing. Otherwise the splinter could kill you. It\u2019s called \u2018blood poisoning\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, picture your body\u2019s acute inflammatory response coming with a label that reads, \u201cfor emergency use only\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now, in addition to the troubles of chronic inflammation, it\u2019s time for \u201cpro-inflammatory cytokines\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pro-inflammatory cytokines, and there are many of them, are a specific type of molecule that starts to appear when one level of acute inflammation is going on and suddenly the body thinks it needs \u201cmore\u201d. Unfortunately, as doctors learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the system can easily spin out of control (remember the words \u201ccytokine storm\u201d?) because these cytokines can cause massive tissue injury, especially pneumonia, and now leave us with long COVID symptoms. We\u2019re now fairly certain that elevations of pro-inflammatory cytokines are also responsible for the muscle pain of fibromyalgia, the inflammation of black mold exposure, and possibly even Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, at this point, we have not answered the \u201cwhy\u201d of cytokine release. Why do some people have high levels of cytokines and suffer the pain of fibromyalgia and others don\u2019t. Why do some people when exposed to the toxins of black mold develop CIRS (\u201cchronic inflammatory response syndrome\u201d) from cytokines and others don\u2019t. Why do some people get long COVID and other brush their COVID off like a bad cold?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that when the news story was released last month<\/a>, how a serious bout of long COVID had the effect on a brain of 20+ years of aging, you can see the connection with brain inflammation and pro-inflammatory cytokines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With chronic inflammation (inflama <\/em>is Latin for \u201cinflame\u201d or \u201cignite\u201d), your body is literally smoldering, cooking itself. Unfortunately, you don\u2019t have much of a warning system that chronic inflammation is festering in your body, though some people are more sensitive to it than others. When my patients try to describe it, it\u2019s really vague, like \u201cI don\u2019t know, doctor, something\u2019s wrong, I feel inflamed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other patients feel fine, and when they come in for a check-up have nothing to report. But slowly, over the years, this same person will develop conditions linked with chronic inflammation<\/strong><\/a>: high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, joint inflammation, digestive symptoms like reflux or colitis, and even dementia and cancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is now simply accepted as fact that healthy aging is impaired in people who had been diagnosed as chronically inflamed, indicated by high levels the inflammatory markers (sed rate, hsCRP, ferritin). These markers are molecules circulating in your bloodstream that reflect increased inflammation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve already mentioned the oldest of these markers, the sed rate (ESR, or erythrocyte sedimentation rate<\/em>) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP). Others include ferritin, fibrinogen, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and adiponectin and C4a. By tracing just one of these markers\u2013IL-6\u2013investigators noted that individuals with high levels aged poorly, developing many chronic illnesses and dying prematurely. The statement from one group of the investigators sums it up: high inflammation equals \u201cdecreased likelihood for successful aging\u201d, and \u201cfavorable inflammatory status is positively associated with metabolic health in obese and non-obese subjects\u201d. But really, if any of these is constantly elevated, it does mean your immune system is in overdrive, working to fight or clear away \u201csomething\u201d, sometimes known, like COVID-19, sometimes unknown, as is the situation with autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s one important point about that list of chronic diseases associated with inflammation, such as the autoimmune spectrum, Alzheimer\u2019s, Parkinsonism, schizophrenia and so forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have a family member with one of these conditions, don\u2019t be afraid to ask the doctor managing the case if he\/she is exploring possibilities of chronic inflammation and if he\/she is willing to start anti-inflammatories like low dose naltrexone, dietary changes, and nutritional supplements. If not, then why not, especially when nothing else has been shown to be effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What I\u2019ve learned is that many times these interesting treatments are blocked by \u201ccommittee\u201d and your doctor has no choice but to abide but to abide by \u201ccommittee decision\u201d. Too bad for your Dad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, unless you get tested, you really don\u2019t know for sure. However, if you\u2019re living an unhealthful lifestyle, odds are that you\u2019re chronically inflamed. Also, regardless of your age, if you\u2019ve got more symptoms (aches and pains, digestive, respiratory, fatigue) or are taking more medicines than friends your own age, you should probably get tested for inflammatory markers. People who have a medicine chest filled with steroid skin creams, asthma inhalers, Nexium-type meds to reduce acid, and NSAIDs for body aches are also likely chronically inflamed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to chronic inflammation, lifestyle choices are highly influential. You\u2019re increasing the level of inflammation in your body if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simplest blood tests to order to assess the inflammatory status are the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and the sed rate, virtually always covered by your insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just do the opposite of everything listed in the unhealthful bullet points:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Theracurmin HP (Integrative Therpeutics)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n SPM Active (Metagenics) very high potency omega-3<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow can I tell if I\u2019m inflamed?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How can you test for inflammation in your body?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What can you do to minimize inflammation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n