Inflammation-The Good the Bad the Ugly

inflammation-shaklee pain relief-heart attack, cancer-alzheeimersEveryone who has had a sore throat, rash, hives, or a sprained ankle knows about inflammation. These are normal and appropriate responses of the immune system — your body’s defense  — to infection and trauma.

This kind of inflammation is good. We need it to survive — to help us determine friend from foe.The trouble occurs when that defense system runs out of control, like a rebel army bent on destroying its own country.

Many of us are familiar with an overactive immune response and too much inflammation. It results in common conditions like allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune disease, and asthma. This is bad inflammation, and if it is left unchecked it can become downright ugly.

What few people understand is that hidden inflammation run amok is at the root of all chronic illness we experience — conditions like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, dementia, depression, cancer, and even autism.

A study of a generally “healthy” elderly population found that those with the highest levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin 6 (two markers of systemic inflammation) were 260 percent more likely to die during the next 4 years. The increase in deaths was due to cardiovascular and other causes.

We may feel healthy, but if this inflammation is raging inside of us, then we are in trouble.

The real concern is not our response to immediate injury, infection, or insult. It is the chronic, smoldering inflammation that slowly destroys our organs and our ability to function optimally and leads to rapid aging.

Common treatments such as anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen or aspirin) and steroids like prednisone — though often useful for acute problems — interfere with the body’s own immune response and can lead to serious and deadly side effects.

In fact, as many people die from taking anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen every year as die from asthma or leukemia. Stopping these drugs would be equivalent to finding the cure for asthma or leukemia — that’s a bold statement, but the data is there to back it up. (Editor’s Comment: Since I was treated by Dr. Brouse for Adrenal Fatigue that brings up issues of inflammation and many do not know they even have inflammation problems . He suggested I take 2 Shaklee Pain Relief with each meal. Pain Relief uses natural anti-inflammatory herbs Boswelia and Safflower. Both of these together block  2 inflmmatory protoglandins that cause inflammation, The Cox 2 and the 5-LO. Shaklee Pain Relief does not turn off the Cox 1 , a beneficial prostaglandin that protects the stomach lining from bleeding and ulcer formation. First generation   medications such as Aspririn, Ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin etc) blocked this beneficial protoglandin and caused stomach issues. Pain Relief works the best when taken on a regular basis to fight inflammation.

Meanwhile, the real effects of statin drugs like Lipitor in reducing heart disease may have nothing to do with lowering cholesterol, but with their unintended side effect of reducing inflammation.But is taking medication the right approach to addressing the problem of inflammation? (Ed: There are many unwanted side effects of this drug.)

No. It is DOWNSTREAM medicine.

Here’s how UPSTREAM medicine thinks about inflammation …

How to Locate the Causes of Hidden Inflammation
So if inflammation and immune imbalances are at the root of most of modern disease, how do we find the causes and get the body back in balance?

First, we need to identify the triggers and causes of inflammation.Then we need to help reset the body’s natural immune balance by providing the right conditions for it to thrive.

As a doctor, my job is to find those inflammatory factors unique to each person and to see how various lifestyle, environmental, or infectious factors spin the immune system out of control, leading to a host of chronic illnesses.

Thankfully, the list of things that cause inflammation is relatively short:

  • –  Poor diet–mostly sugar, refined flours, processed foods, and inflammatory fats such as trans and saturated fats
  • -Lack of exercise
  • – Stress
  • – Hidden or chronic infections with viruses, bacteria, yeasts, or parasites
  • – Hidden allergens from food or the environment
  • – Toxins such as mercury and pesticides
  • – Mold toxins and allergens

By listening carefully to a person’s story and performing a few specific tests , I can discover the causes of inflammation in most people.

It’s important to understand that this concept of inflammation is not specific to any one organ or medical specialty. In fact, if you read a medical journal from any field of medicine, you will find endless articles about how inflammation is at the root of problems with the particular organ or area they focus on.

7 Steps to Living an Anti-inflammatory Life
So once you have figured out the causes of inflammation in your life and gotten rid of them, the next step is to keep living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. But how do you do that?

Here is what I recommend. It’s a disarmingly simple but extraordinarily effective way to achieve ultra wellness

1. Whole Foods — Eat a whole foods, high-fiber, plant-based diet, which is inherently anti-inflammatory. That means choosing unprocessed, unrefined, whole, fresh, real foods, not those full of sugar and trans fats low in powerful anti-inflammatory plant chemicals called phytonutrients.

2. Healthy Fats — Give yourself an oil change by eating healthy monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, nuts and avocados, and getting more omega-3 fats from small fish like sardines, herring, sable, and wild salmon.

3. Regular Exercise — Mounting evidence tells us that regular exercise reduces inflammation. It also improves immune function, strengthens your cardiovascular system, corrects and prevents insulin resistance, and is key for improving your mood and erasing the effects of stress. In fact, regular exercise is one among a small handful of lifestyle changes that correlates with improved health in virtually ALL of the scientific literature. So get moving already!

4. Relax — Learn how to engage your vagus nerve by actively relaxing. This powerful nerve relaxes your whole body and lowers inflammation when you practice yoga or meditation, breathe deeply, or even take a hot bath. (editors note: Learn how to do Emotional Freedom Technique and use Shaklee Stress Relief proven to calm and focus)

5. Avoid Allergens — If you have food allergies, find out what you’re allergic to and get stop eating those foods–gluten and dairy are two common culprits. See post on gluten

6. Heal Your Gut — Take probiotics,.. to help your digestion and improve the balance of healthy bacteria in your gut, which reduces inflammation. (Shaklee Corporation makes a great triple encapsulated probiotic called Optiflora that isn’t destroyed by stomach acid)

7. Supplement –– Take a multivitamin/multimineral supplement, fish oil, and vitamin D, all of which help reduce inflammation. ( Shaklee’s Vitalizer contains all these things in one easy package that time releases these ingredients over 12 hours)

Taking this comprehensive approach to inflammation and balancing your immune system addresses one of the most important core systems of the body. (Comment: In order to help balance the immune system a product called Nutriferon created by Dr. Kojima creator of Interferon, developed a plant base product without the side effects of the drug Interferon that helps modulate the immune system. Some recent studies  indicae that these plant substances used in Nutriferon also create tumor necrosis or death)

In the future, medicine may no longer have specialties like cardiology or neurology or gastroenterology, but new specialists like “inflammologists.”

But by understanding these concepts and core systems that are the basis of healthy living now, you don’t have to wait.
To your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD

2 thoughts on “Inflammation-The Good the Bad the Ugly

  1. Craig Maltby says:

    Good inflammation summary. I’d include EpiCor as well in supplements that appear to promote immune balance and modulate IgA and sIgE cells in ways that render a balanced, low-inflammatory response

  2. Caroline says:

    Thanks Craig, yes it looks like studies on EpiCor does indicate that there is an increase in levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10), Appreciate your comment. Caroline

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