Chronic Inflammation and Cytokines
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?
Here begins chronic inflammation
This apparent injustice is not the devil’s work but something else associated with Satan—fire, 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’s syndrome.
Blood tests for chronic inflammation, most commonly the sedimentation rate (“sed rate”), high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (“hsCRP”), 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’t exactly know what to do with the test result and referred patients to various specialists.
There is one “good guy”: acute inflammation saves your life
Your body mounting what’s called an acute inflammatory response is a good thing…when you need it. And you need it to ward off any invader, whether it’s 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’re 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’s a beautiful thing. Otherwise the splinter could kill you. It’s called ‘blood poisoning’.
However, picture your body’s acute inflammatory response coming with a label that reads, “for emergency use only”.
How can I tell if I’m inflamed?
