HEALTHY LIVING


Chronic Inflammation Killing Us Slowly


It may be responsible for almost half of all deaths. Here’s how to stop it. ::


BY GARY GREENBERG I


f you’re a member of the Hadza tribe in Tanzania and living as a hunter-gatherer, you probably don’t have to worry


about chronic infl ammation. For the rest of us, it’s big trouble. “Chronic infl ammation is a


massive problem for people living a modern lifestyle,” says immunologist Simba Gill, CEO of Evelo, a biotech company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “At least 50%, if not


75%, of adults have chronic infl ammation.” Infl ammation is the


Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of biological processes. It can help cure you, but it can also attack your body, and even kill you. Acute infl ammation is the Jekyll


SIMPLE TEST Paper cuts are a good way to pinpoint your inflammatory response.


side, a temporary immune system response that causes swelling, heat, and redness as blood and other fl uids fl ood the site of an injury or infection to protect tissue from further damage and transport agents to facilitate healing. Chronic infl ammation is the Hyde


side, a persistent, low-grade immune response that starts attacking healthy tissue. It slowly degrades health, eventually leading to chronic conditions and often death. Sometimes, potentially deadly


infl ammation can strike quickly. When COVID-19 spread around the


78 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | MAY 2022


globe, hyperinfl ammatory responses called cytokine storms made headlines. Cytokines are immune


system messengers that regulate infl ammation, and a coronavirus-spawned overreaction of pro-infl ammatory cytokines severely damaged lung and other tissues in some patients, resulting in hospitalization and death for many. Cytokine storms


are the most explosive manifestations of infl ammation’s Hyde side. Usually, this fi end is more subtle.


Exploiting agents such


as environmental toxins, poor nutrition and sleep habits, psychological stress, pathogens from persistent infections,


faulty genetics, and even harmful substances produced by our own dysfunctional cells, infl ammation insidiously works under the radar to sabotage the body bit by bit. By the time enough tissue has been


impacted to produce symptoms, the damage is diffi cult to reverse. “Chronic infl ammation is a driver


and cause of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, atopic disorders including asthma, food allergies, dermatitis, many forms of arthritis, infl ammatory bowel diseases, neuroinfl ammatory conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and so on,” Gill tells Newsmax.


“All together, as many as 5 billion


people suff er from diseases linked to chronic infl ammation.” Often, those conditions turn


deadly. “Systemic chronic infl ammation


is the most signifi cant cause of death worldwide, and it’s getting worse,” notes integrative internist Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. “It’s believed to contribute to more


than half of all deaths, and that’s probably a low estimate.”


DIAGNOSING IT One of the biggest problems is that the great majority of people walking around with it don’t even know they have it. In recent decades, clinicians have


been able to get a general sense of chronic infl ammation through blood tests measuring C-reactive protein and other biomarkers. But they aren’t specifi c enough to identify the cause of the infl ammation or help defi ne eff ective treatment. Now, scientists are discovering


more and more components of the immune system, but understanding the complexity of their infl ammatory interactions is still very much a work in progress. Teitelbaum says one simple way


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