You know the basics about inflammation. If you’ve ever been
stung by an insect, fallen off your bike as a kid, broken out in hives, or come
down with a nasty cold, then you know what acute inflammation is like. And you
know that your body responds to this type of an “assault” in the form of
bruising, swelling, itching, aches, and pains.
In simplest terms, inflammation
is the body’s immediate first-aid reaction to heal itself from some type of
damage caused by a virus, bacteria, fungus, environmental toxin, or an injury.
Without the crucial process of inflammation, the body cannot restore itself in
the face of damage.
Essentially, all inflammation starts in an acute phase. The body becomes
damaged in some capacity due to a foreign agent, and it responds immediately to
repair the damage. In many cases, this reaction goes undetected, or symptoms are
so mild that they are even unnoticeable. Once the threat is gone, the body is
able to go back to a non-emergency state—and the inflammation process turns
off.
Inflammation becomes chronic when the body has to continuously fight off a
repeated offender, such as, for instance, Candida, H.pylori, or heavy metal toxicity. At this point,
the body’s inflammation process fails to shut down. When this occurs, the body
is weakened over time because it is overstressed.
The inflammation process can be compared to a light bulb. When left on
continuously, the light bulb will burn out a lot quicker than if it’s turned off
during non-use. When the inflammation process fails to turn off, the immune
system becomes compromised because it is simply overworked and overused. Once
the immune system is compromised, ALL forms of chronic disease can occur—not
just inflammatory diseases. That’s why diseases seemingly unrelated to
inflammation occur. These include, but are certainly not limited to:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Obesity
- Cancer
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Fibromyalgia
- Multiple sclerosis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Lupus
- And many others
So, while inflammation may not be the visible, obvious cause of these
illnesses, it is the catalyst for chronic disease.
That’s why chronic inflammation is being labeled the 21st century’s
silent killer. Unlike its acute form, chronic internal inflammation can
occur undetected because it falls just below the radar of pain and visible
swelling. You feel nothing, or you may experience vague, unexplained symptoms
for which there are no conventional answers. Lab results may continue to come
back normal leading you from doctor to doctor in frustration. And while you
search for answers or even ignore your symptoms altogether, your body’s
inflammation process carries on for weeks, months, or even years—which
compromises your immune system.
Wellness is the absence of inflammation, according to Dr.
Barry Sears, author of the The Anti-Inflammation Zone
.
1 Simply put by Dr. Sears, if you have
inflammation, you cannot be well. Chronic inflammation has become an epidemic in
America, and it threatens to overburden the healthcare system and destroy many
future lives with the most serious chronic, degenerative diseases.
The key to optimal health and disease prevention is to detect chronic
inflammation and treat its root causes promptly and effectively. This may take
time, and you and your doctor may have to do a bit of detective work to find out
the true culprits of inflammation. You can proactively prolong your health—and
your life—by preventing your body from entering into a state of chronic,
untreated inflammation.
Testing for Chronic Inflammation
C-reactive protein is a solid indicator for disease
potential. Interestingly, research reveals that chronic inflammation
increases the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the blood. As such, the
American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) jointly recommend using inflammatory markers such as CRP to assess heart
disease and stroke risk.
2 Taking it a step further, high C-reactive
protein levels may alert you to the potential for other diseases, not just heart
disease and stroke.
CRP is a simple blood test. While the CRP test does not specifically diagnose
a particular disease, it is a general marker of infection and inflammation that
alerts medical professionals that further testing and treatment may be
necessary.
3 CRP tests can also tell you if you’re getting better, or
if medical treatments and therapies are working. For instance, CRP levels
decrease when aspirin is administered to cardiac patients.
What Can You Do to Stop Chronic Inflammation?
Protecting yourself against chronic disease requires changing the way
you think about your health. Many people sacrifice their long-term
health because they simply want their symptoms to go away, so they self-treat
with over-the-counter medications from the local drug store instead of dealing
with the underlying causes that assault their bodies on a continual basis.
The truth is there is no “overnight fix” for chronic
inflammation. In order to effectively put a stop to chronic
inflammation and the potential for future disease, you need to find the true,
hidden culprits and either control or eradicate them altogether. Some of the
culprits of chronic inflammation include:
- Fungi such as Candida.
- Bacteria (including but not limited to) H. Pylori (responsible for
peptic ulcers) and Borrelia burgdorferi (responsible for Lyme disease).
- Viruses such as Hepatitis AE, Herpes, HIV, and Epstein Barr.
- Heavy Metal Toxicity (like
mercury for instance, from "silver" dental fillings or mercury amalgams).
- Undiagnosed food allergies. Many people unknowingly suffer from lactose
intolerance or gluten intolerance, or may be allergic to corn or soy (common
ingredients found in many processed foods). Undiagnosed food allergies have the
potential to cause severe, chronic inflammation.
- Environmental molds in the home or workplace. Occult (hidden) mold can
trigger the inflammation response in people who are susceptible to the toxins
produced by various molds.
Effective therapies to treat the underlying causes of chronic inflammation
may take several weeks, months, or even years. While this may seem like
“forever,” it is actually only a short period of time when it comes to
increasing the quality of your overall health—and your lifespan.
Adequate treatment involves a multi-faceted approach of:
1.
Eradicating foreign agents (viral, bacterial, fungal,
and/or environmental). Therapies include the use of:
- Antifungal prescription medications such as Amphotericin B,
Diflucan®, Lamisil®, Nizoral®,
Nystatin®, Sporanox®.
- Broad-spectrum antibiotics.
- Chelation therapy.
- Removal of mercury amalgam fillings.
2.
Reducing the body’s inflammatory response. Common
anti-inflammatory treatments include the use of:
- Prescription and over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs). Warning: These may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and
gastrointestinal bleeding, so discuss these risks with your healthcare
professional.
- Systemic enzymes.
3.
Resolving nutrient deficiencies caused by chronic
inflammation and a compromised immune system. In particular, it is useful
to:
- Restore the balance of intestinal flora with probiotics, especially for
those who need to use antibiotics and antifungals to combat bacterial and fungal
infections.
- Replace trace minerals. During chelation therapy, trace minerals should be
replenished.
- Increase omega-3 by supplementing the diet with fish oil, nuts and seeds, and wild fish.
4.
Making dietary adjustments. Chronic inflammation is
usually seen in people who have diets with an unbalanced ratio of omega-6 and
omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs). Omega-3 EFAs will actually help to
decrease the amount of internal inflammation, thereby helping you to avoid
chronic conditions. The Standard American Diet severely lacks omega-3 derived
from healthy sources such as fish oil, wild fish and nuts and seeds. A healthy dietary
balance between omega-6 and omega-3 should be 1:1. However, due to our highly
processed American diet loaded with bad fats (trans fats), the ratio is 15:1
(and can be as high as 30:1 in some cases).
Cited Sources:
- “Save Yourself from the Hidden Killer, Silent Inflammation,” MSNBC -
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6791181 - Accessed Sept. 2005
- “Inflammation, Heart Disease and Stroke: The Role of C-reactive Protein,”
American Heart Association -
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4648 - Accessed Sept.
2005
- “C-reactive Protein (CRP)” WedMdHealth -
http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/tu6309.asp - Accessed Sept. 2005
