Introduction

Inflammation occurs naturally within the body as a critical element of the human immune system's response to harmful stimuli, which include pathogens, toxins, physical injuries and damaged cells. In its transitory form, inflammation is thus a positive mechanism for initiating healing, often outwardly manifested as swelling, heat and redness and often accompanied by pain.

Research has increasingly shown, however, how long term inflammation, referred to as systemic chronic inflammation (SCI) is caused by lifestyle and environmental factors. Studies link SCI to the development of a wide range of serious diseases afflicting large swathes of populations worldwide, accounting for very significant proportions of global disability and mortality statistics. So the way we live our lives can determine how long we live and what quality of life we are able to enjoy, especially during the later years - or decades - of our lives.

SCI is characterised by the body producing inflammatory cells in the absence of any external threat.

 

 

Causes of Systemic Chronic Inflammation

Leaving aside the necessary short term inflammation associated with the immune system's response to sudden internal or external threats, we will consider the factors which we, as individuals, can directly influence in order to reduce the pernicious SCI form which, left undetected, wreaks such havoc on our health and wellbeing.

There is clearly a significant area of overlap between the two categories of inflammation that we have described as, for example, the SCI form will inevitably weaken our body's defences, making us more susceptible to short term threats such as invasion by viral or bacterial infections. We can thus see how the two forms can work in concert to cause us greater harm.

When considering the longer-term form of inflammation, we should evaluate a number of lifestyle factors. This type of approach is receiving ever greater attention from well qualified scientists and medical professionals who have chosen to explore such parameters in depth and make their findings available in published research studies, books and other output. These factors can be grouped under the following headings:

• Poor Nutrition
• Lack of Physical Exercise
• Chronic Psychological Stress
• Poor Quality Sleep
• Exposure to Toxins
• Absence of Social Interaction

 

 

 

These factors produce inflammation through specific intermediate mechanisms, which are now quite well understood by domain experts (although perhaps not yet as well communicated as they should be). As an important example, these include insulin resistance, which is becoming more widely associated with diets that contain large proportions of sugar, simple starches and ultra-processed foods together with deficiencies in the vital nutrients and fibre which are abundant in vegetables and fruit. As with other mechanisms, insulin resistance should be considered in the context of other lifestyle factors too, such as exercise, sleep, stress and weight regulation.

It is not hard to envisage a chain of causes, each link amplifying the next in sequence, such that poor diet and lack of exercise cause both insulin resistance and obesity, with obesity further encouraging a sedentary existence, with all of these elements contributing to degraded sleep.

A widespread failure to embrace the connection between lifestyle factors and SCI has perhaps helped to perpetrate the dangerous idea that long term inflammation, together with other conditions that can seriously impact our health, can only by remedied by means of prescription drugs, which still seem to be pushed upon complicit patients indiscriminately as a sort of universal blanket remedy. Does it really make sense that single, manufactured, unnatural products can adequately resolve such incredibly complex conditions that develop over long periods of time? This seems to be another example of our tendency to select easy, short term measures at the cost of effective long term solutions - which require for more effort, patience and discipline. This suggestion does not, of course undermine the effective use of drugs, especially as a short-term measure where there is an urgent need to address a specific health problem which cannot be adequately remedied by other means. Used appropriately, drugs save many lives.

 

Diagnosis and Measurement

Systemic Chronic Inflammation is manifested in various ways, including:

• Pain
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Joint Stiffness
• Mouth Sores
• Skin Rashes
• Depression and Mood Disorders
• Gastrointestinal Problems

In addition to looking for warning signs such as these, inflammation can be measured by testing for the following inflammatory markers in the blood, which are created by the body in response to inflammation. Note that testing for these markers does not reveal any information about the underlying cause of the inflammation that they highlight.

 

C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

CRP is produced by the liver and its levels rise in response to inflammation.

High CRP levels can indicate inflammation, possibly due to autoimmune disorders, infection, or chronic diseases.

Get a more detailed explanation of how C-Reactive Protein works as a marker of inflammation

 

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

ESR measures the rate at which red blood cells form a sediment sediment in a period of one hour.

A faster sedimentation rate suggests higher inflammation. It's often used to monitor conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or temporal arteritis.

Get a more detailed explanation of how Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate works as a marker of inflammation

 

Plasma Viscosity

Plasma Viscosity measures the thickness and stickiness of blood. Inflammatory response causes changes in protein concentration and content, resulting in thicker blood. The marker is commonly used in the observation of rheumatic diseases. 

Get a more detailed explanation of how Plasma Viscosity works as a marker of inflammation

 

Interleukin-6 (IL-6)

IL-6, one of the earliest cytokines to be identified, is a type of signalling protein involved in inflammation. Immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis are characterised by the continual synthesis of interleukin.

Elevated levels of IL-6 are associated with various chronic inflammatory conditions, including type 2 diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and certain cancers.

Get a more detailed explanation of how Interleukin-6 works as a marker of inflammation

 

Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α)

TNF-α, another cytokine, plays a key role in systemic inflammation as a major regulator of inflammatory responses and has a proven association with autoimmune diseases.

High levels of TNF-α are often seen in chronic inflammatory conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and rheumatoid arthritis.

Get a more detailed explanation of how Tumour Necrosis Factor works as a marker of inflammation

 

SCI Treatment and Remedies

Medical remedies in the form of drugs such as NSAIDs, steroids and immune system suppressants can be subscribed as short term measures but, in common with many synthesised medications, these substances address the symptoms of inflammation but are unlikely to remediate the root causes. NetVista Health therefore recommends that sufferers of Systemic Chronic Inflammation pay attention to the set of lifestyle factors that we have listed above.

There is now a great deal of research material which supports the idea that that certain plant extracts and omega-3 fatty acids from oily fish and some plants can help to reduce inflammation when taken in the form of dietary supplements. Forbes Health has highlighted the following substances which have significant scientific support for their efficacy in this role:

• Turmeric and its active component Curcumin
• Ginger
• DHA and EPA (as fish oils)
• Glutathione (present in a wide range of healthy foods)
• Bromelain (present in pineapple)
• Vitamin D (present in oily fish, green vegetables, eggs, meat and offal - in addition to sunshine!)
• Green Tea
• Sulforaphane (found in cruciferous vegetables)
• Cayenne Pepper

You will likely have grasped quickly that all of these components can be incorporated into your regimen through diet alone. Some foods, such as fresh oily fish, contain multiple components. To the extent that we cannot achieve this, supplements are an effective way of topping up levels. Busy professional women fall into the category of those who may not have sufficient time to construct, provision and implement daily meal plans that provide adequate levels of these therapeutic compounds.

We should allow too for the possibility that all of these substances provide health benefits beyond their impact on inflammatory regulation.

 

Conclusion

Systemic Chronic Inflammation (SCI) is a pernicious medical condition associated with all of the major degenerative diseases and which therefore contributes massively to human mortality. We might stand the best chance of combatting SCI by:

• Taking a profound interest in our own health
• Researching all aspects of inflammation (subject, of course, to our time constraints!)
• Implementing a complete range of lifestyle measures which address the factors listed at the beginning of this article (this is, of course, easier to say than to do)
• Devising a nutritional regimen that incorporates the foods which have been shown to contain the anti-inflammatory substances referred to above (this requires significant time and effort)
• Making up shortfalls in the intake of anti-inflammatory agents by using supplements selectively

Above all we suggest that supplement use will be most effective if we focus first on all lifestyle factors. That is, after all, what the concept of supplement means. Health supplements are intended as an adjunct to fundamental measures and are especially relevant to those of us who lead over-hectic lives and inevitably neglect natural measures.