It\u2019s good for you to know a little something about \u2018cytokines.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Cyto\u2019 is Greek for \u2018cell,\u2019 \u2018kine\u2019 for movement, like \u2018kinetic.\u2019 \u2018Cytokines\u2019 are molecules released by cells during episodes of \u2018stress,\u2019 like an injury, an infection, or fighting a cancer. Some cytokines increase inflammation, imaginatively called pro-inflammatory cytokines, others decrease it: anti-inflammatory cytokines. They cause pain by activating pain sensitive nerves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our various anti-inflammatory medications and herbs relieve our discomforts by reducing our pro-inflammatory cytokines. During the COVID pandemic the most sick patients were given high doses of steroids to lower what doctors realized was the dramatically named cytokine storm. <\/strong>Sometimes this worked but 15-20 million people died worldwide from SARS and although COVID is under control, cytokines themselves as part of our body\u2019s function will always be with us.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two statistics may interest you. First, every 5th person who had COVID likely had or still has one of the 200 manifestations of \u201clong COVID.\u201d <\/strong>This is a separate condition caused by the immune system\u2019s inability to completely clear the SARS virus so there\u2019s a constant smoldering inflammation throughout the body.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This inflammation produces \u2018microclots\u2019 of a protein called \u2018amyloid\u2019 which in turn reduces the oxygen supply to cells \u2018everywhere.\u2019 End result? Dozens and dozens of seemingly unrelated symptoms with virtually no \u201cpositive\u201d tests (except for cytokine levels, which aren\u2019t routinely measured). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second statistic (I said there were two, remember?): if you had any sort of an inflammatory disease before you had COVID, the extra jolt of cytokines threw it into high gear afterward. A return of your rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some more cytokine facts: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since cytokines cross the blood brain barrier, they\u2019re the villain in the symptom of \u2018brain fog\u2019 that accompanies so many inflammatory diseases (like the \u201cfibro-fog\u201d of fibromyalgia).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the basis of Long COVID is essentially a failure of the immune system to completely clear the SARS virus, strengthening the immune system and reducing inflammation become important aspects of treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n