CHRONIC INFLAMMATION —HOW IT CAN ACCELERATE YOUR AGEING
Lately, I’ve been seeing more mentions in both print and online of inflammation and its role in disease. So, I decided to research it a bit. I found that there is both the good & the bad; Acute inflammation vs. chronic inflammation
Acute inflammation is your body’s response to protect and repair your body from an injury—say when you strain a muscle or from an infection such as the flu. With these, your immune system sends a host of white blood cells to fight the problem. You can see this form of inflammation in the redness and swelling of the injured muscle or in your body temperature rising to fight the flu virus.
But chronic inflammation is a whole different animal. It’s not part of your body’s natural healing process. Instead of your immune system going back to normal after your bout with the flu or after your muscle recovers, your white blood cell activity remains unchecked in chronic inflammation. In fact this type of inflammation probably plays a big part in the diseases we often associate with aging such as diabetes and cancer.
Lifestyle changes to control chronic inflammation
To give a more detailed description of how you can make changes in your lifestyle to help control inflammation, I’m including excerpts from the Harvard University October, 2019 updated article, Playing with the fire of inflammation:
Inflammation is like a fire in your body you cannot see or feel. “It’s a smoldering process that injures your tissues, joints, and blood vessels, and you often do not notice it until significant damage is done,” says Dr. Andrew Luster, of the Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. The damage might show up as arthritis, heart disease, stroke, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
“Acute inflammation is how your body fights invaders that may cause infection, as well as being a part of the healing process,” says Dr. Luster. Chronic inflammation, however, is different. The same reaction as in acute inflammation takes place, except now the flame persists. White blood cells flood the problem area and end up attacking nearby healthy tissues and organs.
For example, if you are overweight and have more visceral fat cells—the kind of fat that builds up in your abdomen and surrounds your organs—the immune system sees those fat cells as a threat and pumps out more white blood cells. The longer you stay overweight, the longer your body remains in a state of inflammation. The fire just keeps burning.
“This reaction is not confined to one particular place either,” says Dr. Luster. “Inflammation can travel throughout the body and cause problems all over. If you get arthritis or heart disease, odds are chronic inflammation is a contributor,” he says.
Protect yourself
Managing your diet and lifestyle are the two best ways to keep chronic inflammation under control, says Dr. Luster. As mentioned, excess weight is a frequent cause of inflammation, and losing extra pounds, especially around the belly, can lower levels. Other preventive steps, according to Dr. Luster, include these:
- Fighting gum disease. If your gums bleed when you brush or floss, you most likely have inflammation. Make an appointment to see your dentist for a check-up, and step up your oral hygiene.
- Treating high cholesterol. Get your levels tested, and speak with your doctor about taking statins to keep lipids under control if they are deemed too high.
- Quitting smoking. This is good, all-around health advice. More specifically, the toxins from smoking have a direct link to inflammation.
Alter your diet
In terms of diet, you want to subtract and add. Cut back or eliminate simple sugars (like soda and candy), beverages that contain high-fructose corn syrup (like juice drinks and sports drinks) and refined carbohydrates (like white bread and pasta). “Not only are these types of foods empty calories, but overindulging in them can contribute to easy weight gain and thus trigger inflammation,” says Dr. Luster.
You want to add foods rich in the antioxidants known as polyphenols. Studies have shown that these antioxidants have many anti-inflammatory properties.
Which foods are considered the best? A study in the May 2016 British Journal of Nutrition found that polyphenols from onions, turmeric, red grapes, and green tea lowered a marker for inflammation in the body. All types of berries are also rich in polyphenols, as are cherries and plums, as well as dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collards.
Olive oil, flaxseed oil, and fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel offer healthy doses of omega-3 fatty acids, which have long been shown to reduce inflammation.
“The goal is not to consume a certain amount per day, but to incorporate as many of these foods as possible into your regular meals,” says Dr. Luster
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Other Triggers
In addition to the above, here are some other chronic inflammation triggers:
Stress
Chronic stress causes increases in hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which directly trigger a rise in inflammation.
Lack of Exercise
As the universal prescription for better health, regular exercise can help prevent chronic inflammation. As little as 30 minutes per day should do the trick.
Irregular Sleep Patterns
Unfortunately, as we get older the quality of sleep we get decreases. Half of older adults have problems with insomnia. Medications can also interfere with sleep, as can chronic pain. And lack of sleep raises levels of inflammation in the body.
Here again, regular exercise can also help you sleep deeper. Avoiding eating a meal or drinking alcohol or caffeine within a couple of hours before bedtime, is also suggested. If these don’t help you get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night (even for seniors!), you may want to visit a sleep specialist to help you diagnose other issues such as sleep apnea.