Inflammation: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly; The Cause of Most Chronic Diseases

Inflammation is very important to our bodies.  It is a protective part of our immune system to fight infection and other foreign invaders and to initiate the healing process.  Inflammatory cells aid the body's healing mechanism.  Inflammation is not the same as infection.  An infection is caused by a micro-organism. Inflammation is the body's response to fight the micro-organism.

Acute inflammation is the initial response of the body to harmful stimuli, causing and increased movement of plasma and leukocytes (especially granulocytes) from the blood to the injured tissues.  It usually appears within a few minutes or hours and ceases on the removal of the injurious stimuli.  The classic signs of acute infection are pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function.  Without inflammation the body would not be able to heal well.  For example, when inflammation causing heat is generalized, we experience it as a fever.  The fever is part of the body's immune response to fighting the infection.  It has been shown in studies that reducing a fever with medicine increases the length of time of an infection.  It has also been shown that taking anti-inflammatory medications continuously after an injury increases the time it takes to heal the injury.

However, when inflammation becomes chronic, it can cause damage to the body, either locally (such as in tendinitis, tendinitis, knee arthritis caused by injury, etc.) or systemically.  These can be caused by overuse (not allowing the injury to heal), using enough anti-inflammatory medication so that it cannot completely heal, genetics, chronic low grade infection, the SAD diet (Standard American Diet), dysbiosis (an alteration in intestinal bacteria), toxins such as heavy metals and environmental pollutants, improper healing from surgery, etc.  Common chronic inflammatory illnesses are:  acne, allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, celiac disease, chronic urinary tract infections, interstitial cystitis and prostatitis, chronic kidney disease, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, etc.  Inflammation of the brain and gut has been implicated in ADHD and autism, depression and other mood disorders.

In the last couple of decades, more evidence is being found through research that most of the chronic diseases leading to death are also caused by chronic inflammation, including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.  For example, atherosclerosis, which causes heart attacks and heart disease, was considered to be caused by high cholesterol.  More recent studies show that inflammation is implicated in every stage of this disease.  Most scientists studying the inflammatory cause of heart disease believe the moderate success of the statin drugs in lowering cardiovascular events is more from their anti-inflammatory effect than by lowering the LDL.

Studies are also showing that inflammation plays a large role in cancer.  It is felt that inflammation can cause cell mutation leading to cancer, and inflammation has been shown to promote tumor growth and metastasis.

Once chronic inflammation has set in a cascade of problems results, making it more difficult to heal.  For example, inflammation can cause an increase in insulin, which also causes inflammation.  Elevated insulin holds onto fat in the body and causes obesity.  Fat cells also secrete inflammatory chemicals and increase inflammation in the body.  This increases insulin further and leads to insulin resistance.  This can lead to Diabetes Type 2, which increases inflammation in the macro- and micro-circulation, causing damage to the arteries.  The arterial wall damage causes a release of inflammatory cells and chemicals to repair it, which can lead to platelet aggregation and plaque deposition.  This can lead to heart and vascular disease.

Most of us are dealing with one or more of these problems and have no idea of how to heal it.  Most doctors simply treat the symptoms rather than dealing with the root cause:  inflammation.  My next blog will look into medications generally used for the chronic inflammation that threatens our health and our lives, how well they work and if they are safe.

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi

Paper Roses

I was in Las Vegas this last week, and in Phoenix the week before. I had the privilege of seeing Marie Osmond in her Las Vegas show with Donny. She was kind enough to see me back stage for a hug before she had to go to a photo shoot, and yes, she was just as beautiful as these pictures show!

I remember hearing her first hit on the radio, Paper Roses. She sang that song in her show, and it was fun to remember. "But they're only...imitation..."

But this blog isn't just about Marie, though I love her dearly; it's about all of the things I learned in Las Vegas at the conference for the American College for the Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) and in Phoenix at the conference for the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. They were both about Autoimmune Diseases, and the speakers at both conferences presented many studies showing the profound effect the pollution in the environment is having on our health.

Below are some of the things that I learned. This isn't just hype but backed by rigorous scientific studies.

Arsenic, a toxic chemical often found at low levels in U.S. public drinking water,usually due to leaching into ground water from pesticides and fertilizers, may increase the risk of developing diabetes, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study showed Americans with high levels of arsenic in their urine were almost four times more likely to have diabetes than those with trace levels. The risk was apparent at levels in the water which were generally considered harmless and grew with increasing exposure.

While previous research showed chronic exposure to high levels of arsenic could lead to diabetes, the new report is the first to show that even levels that meet U.S. regulations may be dangerous. Arsenic in drinking water is also shown to increase risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Lead levels in the blood of children are considered safe if they are below 10 mcg/dL. However, a recent study of men of an average age of 67 and an average blood lead level of 2.85 mcg/dL had lead levels taken from bone samples, where lead tends to congregate over time in the body. Those with higher levels were six times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those with lower levels in their bone. Their blood levels were not indicative of the amount of lead in their bones. What does that say about children with a blood level of 10 mcg/dL? Other studies also are indicating that there is no safe level of lead.

One study (I'm not sure where it was done), showed that up to 200 chemicals were found in the umbilical cord blood of newborns. Mercury blood levels in cord blood were twice as high as levels in maternal blood. For some reason the levels are concentrated in the fetus.

Pesticides have an estrogen-like effect on the body. Endometriosis has been highly linked to dioxin, which has been banned in this country, but still seems to show up in the blood. There is evidence that young girls with increased pesticide exposure have early puberty. Animal studies have shown that pregnant mothers exposed to these pesticides at specific times during fetal growth have offspring that exhibit same sex attraction.

There are greater levels of autism in the areas of coal burning plants, which emit a lot of mercury. Pregnant women exposed to pesticides also have a higher number of children with autism. Pregnant women who eat a lot of fish have a higher number of children with genetic defects and autism. And the current multidose vial of flu vaccine STILL has thiomerisol in it, which contains ethylmercury.

Up to 60% of the population are gluten sensitive to some degree, but most do not know it. A person has to be off of gluten for 6 months to lose the effects that it has on the body. Even eating gluten once a month can bring back the effects. The effects can be celiac disease, increased allergies, eczema, asthma, cognitive problems, etc.

The elevated levels of gluten sensitivity are thought to be related to several things: the hybrid forms created over the last 50 years are much different than what our ancestors were eating and the high levels of pesticides with heavy metals that are found on the wheat, causing sensitization.

People who are gluten sensitive have much higher rates of autoimmune diseases, especially thyroiditis. A majority of those with autism and ADHD are gluten sensitive.

These are just a few of the things we learned. It seems quite scary, especially when we seem unable to do anything about it. The United States and all of the world has ADHD--poor impulse control. Industry has grown and developed and utilized multiple chemicals without considering the long term consequences of their behaviors. Some of them had no idea what they were creating, many of them were in denial, and some of them knew exactly the risks they were taking for humanity but did it anyway for profit. There is still mostly denial in industry of the effects they are having on their communities and in the world.

But there are things we can do. We can live as clean as we can, drink filtered water, grow our own organic gardens, detoxify ourselves, consider gluten sensitivity and staying away from wheat,etc., be tested for chemicals and heavy metals BEFORE pregnancy by a knowledgeable doctor, keep chemicals out of our homes as much as possible, and be as pro-active as possible in keeping our communities safe. It was the citizens of Love Canal that rose up in arms and finally had their homes moved because of the severe toxicity of the Niagara River. Because of them the Superfund was created to clean up toxic sites. Be aware of what is going on in your community. Be aware of what is in your water and what your home is built on.

Up until now much of industry has been giving us paper roses; promises of safety that are only imitations of reality. They can no longer hold up under scrutiny. They are going to have to do business a different way in order for our children and children's children to survive.

Until we meet again,
Dr. Judi